Bad news from Sudan

Not that a lot of good news comes from there, but this could get really bad... Reuters.com:

John Garang, who led Sudan's southern rebels for two decades before making peace and joining the government he fought, has died in a helicopter crash, sparking riots and fears for the country's hard-won stability. At least 12 people were killed in Khartoum, a policeman said, after rioters torched vehicles and looted shops. Witnesses said southerners, who have long said the northern government discriminated against them, attacked Arabs in the street. 'People have been running all over the streets. The policemen are taking people from the streets. There is fire and smoke,' a Reuters TV witness said. Garang, a key figure in a January peace deal hailed as a rare success story for Africa, became the country's first vice president on July 9. He died over the weekend after the Ugandan presidential helicopter he was traveling in went down in bad weather.

Speculation that the crash wasn't an accident abounds, although I have seen no evidence of that. Regardless of the cause, Garang's death will undoubtably make progress in stopping the Darfur Genocide more difficult and may threaten the truce in northern Sudan as well. Hopefully, people will be inspired enough by his example of working for peace to build on his accomplishments, rather than tearing them down.