Garang's successor Kiir sworn in as Sudan's first VP
(AP)
Updated: 2005-08-11 17:14

Southern leader Salva Kiir Mayardit was sworn in as Sudan's first vice president on Thursday, replacing his former boss John Garang, who died in a helicopter crash on July 30, reported AP.

Wearing a black suit, the former rebel commander took the oath with his hand on a red bible in a large tent in the grounds of the presidential palace.

"I swear allegiance to the republic of Sudan," said Kiir, who from 1983 until a peace treaty in January had fought against the Khartoum government for autonomy for Sudan's southern people.

He pledged to work for the unity of Sudan although he is reported to be sympathetic to southern aspirations to secede. Under the peace treaty, southerners will decide whether to remain in Sudan in a referendum to be held at the end of the six-year transitional period.

Lt. Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit , pictured in Juba, southern Sudan Monday, Aug. 8, 2005. [AP/file]

Afterwards Kiir, President Omar el-Bashir and Second Vice President Ali Osman Mohammed Taha raised their linked hands and stood beaming for photographs. The ceremony was witnessed by hundreds of people, including foreign ambassadors.

In a speech afterward, Kiir urged all Sudanese to join in the process of healing the wounds of the civil war, in which more than 2 million people died from fighting and attendant disease and famine.

Addressing widespread fears that the peace has been jeopardised by the death of the charismatic Garang, Kiir said: "It is neither my intention to depart from the route of John Garang nor to change the Comprehensive Peace Agreement."

In what appeared to be a reference to his own views on the south's destiny, Kiir said: "I will work on making the unity of Sudan attractive to the people of southern Sudan."

When Kiir arrived in Khartoum on Wednesday, four days after Garang's funeral in Juba, southern Sudan, it was his first visit to the capital since he and Garang deserted the national army and founded the Sudan People's Liberation Army in 1983.

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