Southern Sudanese leaders moved swiftly to fill the vacuum left by the weekend death of Vice President John Garang, choosing a close ally to succeed him, and announced five days of mourning starting on Tuesday.  

The former rebel leader, a key figure in the January peace accord hailed as a rare African success, died after a Ugandan helicopter he was traveling in went down in bad weather.

Garang, a skilful battlefield commander and politician, was sworn in as Sudan's first vice president on July 9. Some southerners, who have long complained of discrimination by the north, fear their position may be weakened without him.

His death prompted some southerners to rampage through the streets of Khartoum on Monday, setting fire to vehicles and looting shops in some of the worst riots in the capital in years. Police said at least 24 people were killed.

The UN and the US called Garang's death a loss for the country and urged all factions to carry out the peace process he began.

The US said it dispatched two top diplomats to encourage a smooth transition in the southern leadership.

"The US is determined to maintain our commitment to the peace process in Sudan," US President George W. Bush said, hailing Garang as a "visionary leader and peacemaker."

Garang's former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) quickly named his deputy Salva Kiir as new leader and said it expected him to be sworn in as Sudan's first vice president in two weeks.

"We definitely wanted to make the situation clear, we wanted no vacuum," senior SPLM official Pagan Amun said in their southern administrative base New Site, a sprawling compound with some unfinished buildings.

"We had to act swiftly and provide leadership," he said.

There would be five days of mourning in the south starting from Tuesday, Amun said.

Southern worries

Political analysts say Kiir may bring a more collegial style to southern politics, whereas Garang was more able to use his local and international stature to impose his will.

Members of the SPLM and the government in Khartoum -- bitter enemies during the conflict -- both promised to maintain the power-sharing peace agreement Garang helped bring about.

"The SPLM reiterates its wholehearted commitment to the letter and spirit of the comprehensive peace agreement and its honest and transparent implementation," it said in a statement.

Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir expressed confidence that the power-sharing peace accord would remain intact.

"We are confident that the peace agreement will proceed as it was planned," he said in a televised statement.

However, some southerners fear Garang's absence could weaken their hand in governing the vast country, divided between an Arabised Muslim north and the south, which is a mix of African ethnicities with Christians, animists and Muslims.

"What a lot of southerners will be worried about is that the old (northern) government will not adhere to the principles of the (peace) agreement," said Sudan writer Douglas Johnson.

The peace deal included giving southerners the right to vote on secession after a six-year interim period and also shared out Sudan's oil wealth between north and south roughly equally.

Just weeks earlier, Garang had come north to take his place in the government to a tumultuous popular welcome in Khartoum.

As news of his death was confirmed on Monday, thousands of his southern Sudanese supporters took to the streets of Khartoum in a different mood, wielding knives and bars, looting shops, starting fires and clashing with police.

Garang's death stunned the region, where Sudan's neighbors helped negotiate an end to the continent's longest civil war.

His body was placed in a wooden coffin and laid on a bed for viewing in New Site, scented charcoal burning in the bare room.

(Chinadaily.com.cn via agencies, August 2, 2005)