A week after the sudden death of Garang, Arab commentators are still weighing the implications. Rasha Saad reviews the debate The unexpected death of John Garang last week took Sudanese and Arab commentators by surprise. "The loss of Garang so unexpectedly was not thought of even in the bleakest and most pessimistic scenarios," wrote Sudanese writer Kamal Al-Ghazouli in the UAE newspaper Al-Bayan. Paying tribute to Garang, Al-Ghazouli wrote that "whether we are with or against him, the man [Garang] whose name was deeply engraved in our lives for about a quarter of century was not a mere player in a vital historical juncture but was a key fixture." Garang's death in a helicopter crash on 1 August sparked fears that the peace process, which ended more than 20 years of civil war between the government and southern rebels, may collapse. Abdallah Iskandar wrote in the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper that, "the Sudanese peace is left without a safety valve." "As the first vice-president passed away in an air crash in the south, the Sudanese alliances game lost its first architect, Sudan has become deprived of an important safety valve for the numerous discrepancies that Garang knew how to harmonise to serve his ultimate goal -- the dignity of the southerner and the welfare of the Sudanese." Despite the fact that both Salva Kiir -- Garang's successor in the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), and sworn in as vice- president -- and Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir have vowed to press ahead with the peace process, Iskandar is less optimistic. "Even if his [Garang's] successors in the SPLM intend to proceed with the peace process, the peace foes at home and abroad have got rid of a stubborn, patient and experienced rival." Iskandar concluded: "the Sudanese situation will now be open to potential setbacks and recurrent violence." Qatari Al-Raya newspaper described in its editorial the death of Garang as "the biggest loss for the peace process in Sudan and hopes that the country will turn over a new leaf of reconciliation and stability after more than 20 years of civil war." According to the newspaper, the Sudanese people, north and south, east and west, have reason to feel deep sadness in bidding farewell to Garang. However, the editorial urged, "being loyal to Garang's beliefs necessitates commitment to the peace process" and working to avoid "all the pessimistic scenarios which some parties draw in a post-Garang Sudan." Al-Bayan also expressed fears that "this peace agreement is connected to the personality of Garang, and hence the collapse of peace becomes a logical outcome of his loss." Garang's death sparked riots in Khartoum and other cities that left nearly 130 dead. In the Saudi- funded Asharq Al-Awsat, opposition leader and former Sudanese prime minister Sadeq Al-Mahdi argued that the death of Garang was not the only reason that ignited the riots. According to Al-Mahdi, Khartoum consists of a stable urban society, an unplanned society (the outcome of years of drought and security volatility) and a society of the displaced, mostly from the south and largely bereft of citizenship rights. Al-Mahdi explained that when the news of Garang's death was confirmed many in Sudan were distraught but that this feeling was deeper and graver among the unplanned and displaced communities. This quickly channelled into protests against delays in announcing Garang's death and general rage against every aspect of life. "The protest and rage were the result of the unexpected and sudden death but the tensed feelings between the urban society and the displaced one was always there like gunpowder." In the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Abdul- Wahab Al-Afandi, in a diary entitled "under siege in Khartoum", reported on the turbulence that prevailed in Khartoum following the death of Garang. Al-Afandi wrote Sunday that the Sudanese capital was returning to normal life. Nonetheless, he described the situation as fragile: "This chaos, which is ethnically motivated, is of a nature that means your mere presence in the wrong place at the wrong time can create a crisis." Al-Afandi cited two incidents in which his life was in danger by southern youth wielding batons and iron rods. Al-Afandi reflects that despite the fact that civil war in Sudan extends back far into recent memory, direct clashes between ethnic groups -- in contrast to those between the government and armed rebels -- remained rare. According to Al-Afandi there are, however, some positive signs that have emerged from these events. "It is a positive sign that no political power supported or encouraged these riots, but that they were completely condemned from all political powers in both the south and the north. There were also many calls by political leaders for restraint, the most impressive of which is that of Garang's widow, Rebecca, who was composed when she addressed Sudanese people urging them to refrain from all that might overshadow peace." Jordan's Al-Rai was also optimistic. In its editorial it wrote that peace would win in Sudan in the end. "The funeral of Garang which included masses of Sudanese from the north and south reflected the wide and unlimited popular support to the peace agreement, and was a new popular referendum similar to that of 9 July when Garang was named vice-president to [President] Al-Bashir." According to Al-Rai, the funeral was the answer of all the Sudanese people to the factionalist and sectarian calls of extremists. The contribution of President Al-Bashir in the funeral and the choice of Kiir as head of the SPLM -- and hence a vice- president, as stated in the peace agreement -- is a clear signal of confidence and good intentions and that peace in Sudan became a strategic must.
