Death of First Vice President John Garang de Mabior of the Republic of Sudan

Unofficial translation from Russian

PRESS RELEASE

On the night of July 31-August 1 John Garang de Mabior, First Vice President of the Republic of Sudan, died in an helicopter crash in southern Sudan.

The leader of southern Sudan's main opposition group, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), John Garang assumed office as First Vice President on July 9, 2005. He took this post under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed by him at the beginning of January with Sudanese President Omar al Bashir. The agreement ended a more than twenty-year period of confrontation between the northern and southern parts of the country.

A message of condolence has been sent to the Sudanese President on behalf of the Government of Russia over Garang's death.

August 1, 2005