North, South Sudan continue to clash
TANALEE SMITH
Associated Press
KHARTOUM, Sudan
- Frightened residents carried clubs and bricks for
protection Tuesday, fearful of deadly reprisal violence between
Muslim Arabs and residents from Sudan's south enraged over the
death of the former rebel leader who was their hero.
Armed gangs, said to be Arabs, broke into homes of
southerners in several parts of the capital.
At the same time, Muslim neighborhoods came under attack by
supporters of John Garang, who led a two-decade rebellion in
Sudan's mostly Christian and animist south before becoming the
country's vice president in a peace deal. Garang died Saturday
when his helicopter crashed into a southern mountain range in
bad weather.
At least 49 people were killed over two days, according to a
U.N. official, though the number was not officially confirmed.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not
authorized to talk to journalists.
Television footage showed southerners' homes torn apart,
furniture smashed and doors hanging on hinges. In some
neighborhoods, southern men carried sticks and bricks, saying
they had heard that northerners were coming and they needed to
protect themselves.
The death of Garang ruptured the long coexistence in Khartoum
between northerners and the nearly 2 million southerners who
live in squatter neighborhoods in the city and in four massive
refugee camps on its outskirts.
Violence between the communities has been uncommon, even
during the 21-year civil war between Garang's rebels and the
Khartoum government, which is dominated by Muslim Arabs. The war
was fought hundreds of miles to the south and drove thousands of
southerners to the capital.
Garang's death came only three weeks after he was named first
vice president and joined the government that had long been his
enemy, part of a peace deal celebrated throughout the
conflict-torn country.
The government and Garang's Sudan People's Liberation
Movement insist the crash was an accident and have been trying
to bring calm by promising that the peace process will continue.
But southerners rampaged in Khartoum on Monday, many blaming
the government for Garang's death. The rioting left 36 dead,
according to the government. On Tuesday, the violence turned
ethnic and sectarian, with both northerners and southerners
staging attacks.
Throughout the day, tribal leaders - who have more influence
than government officials with many people - appealed for calm
in TV and radio messages.
Minimal police presence was seen on the streets in the
morning, despite the violence the day before, and it wasn't
until afternoon that riot police and soldiers deployed larger
units. In the evening, some neighborhoods that had seen trouble
were filled with a heavy military presence.
In the meantime, Garang's body will be taken to key towns in
the south to allow supporters to pay their respects before
heading to Juba.
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