[left]Lt Gen. John de Mabior Garang, who led Sudanese rebels for 21 years in a war against the Khartoum government, died in an air crash only weeks after being sworn in as the country's deputy leader in a power-sharing agreement that raised hopes of bringing a lasting peace.

Garang, who survived numerous assassination attempts and several violent splits in his rebel movement, died as he returned aboard a Ugandan presidential aircraft from a private trip to Uganda.

International investigations into the aircrash are already in top gear but we in nairaland must carry out our private investigations.......[b]So wot do u think...Who killed John Garang?[/[/b]left]

Lets not run with speculation here.
John Garang was probobly the best hope at a peace in Sudan.

He was killed in an air crash, sounds simple right?

The Aircraft:

The aircraft was a clapped out old Russian Mil-8 . These aircraft are notorious for crashing, one of the poorest safety records in aviation.
After they've time-ex'd out or are retired from service in the Ukraine or Uzbekastan or Kazakstan, or whereever, they find their way to Africa where they receive very little maintenance and are often flying in a condition that would ground them anywhere else.

The Pilots

Ugandan military pilots. Undertrained and with no experience in poor weather flying. Did not hold instrument ratings and , most likely, were in the pilot seat because of who their uncle was, or who the tribe to which thier father's cousin's second wife belongs to, you know the story.
This plus the pressure of getting a VIP to his destination, causes inexperienced pilots to make irrational decisions, like flying in conditions outside their ability.

The Weather and terrain

Very hilly and occured during the rainy season there. That time of year often leaves the tps of hills shrouded in fog and mist. It was poor weather that day with airports in the vicinity all reporting rain and mist.

Do the math, inexperienced pilots without proper training flying a machine that probobly wasn't serviced or equipped properly in hilly terrain duriing bad weather and low visibility, now add in the pressure of flying a VIP who wants to get to his destination and doesn't care to think about the consequences.

You may speculate all you want about 'plots', but most likely his death comes from the same causes that makes Africa the most dangerous place on earth to fly, incompetence, nepotism, corruption.

@inkwazi, ur point is well taken & to an extent i agree with you. But there's also the sudanese factor you need to consider. There's so much tension btw the south & the north right now. Enough to suspect the aircraft could have been sabotaged. Since investigations is on-going its best to keep fingers crossed & await d outcome.