Sudan: UN envoy to meet with southern rebels on pressing ahead with peace deal

On the eve of funeral services for Sudan's First Vice-President and former southern rebel leader John Garang, who was killed in a helicopter crash last weekend, the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) reported that while the capital, Khartoum, remains calm after days of unrest, a night-time curfew remains in effect.

In the south, the situation is also reported to be calm, though tensions persist, the Mission says.

Mr. Garang, long-time head of the southern-based Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement (SPLM) had recently been named Vice-President as part of a peace deal ending 22 years of fighting between southern rebels and the northern Khartoum Government. Violence erupted Monday in the capital and in the south after word of Mr. Garang’s death spread.

Jan Pronk, head of UNMIS will be in the southern city of Juba for the funeral ceremony tomorrow and plans to be back in Khartoum on Sunday, according to a UN spokesman in New York.

While in Juba, Mr. Pronk plans to meet with SPLM leaders to discuss the next steps toward the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), in which Mr. Garang had played a crucial role.