Kenyans have joined the Sudanese nationals in mourning the passing on of the country's First Vice President John Garang as officials denied any foul play in the incident.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki on Monday ordered that the Kenyan flag be flown at half-mast for the next three days in honor of the late Sudanese icon.

Southern Sudanese assembled in groups in central Nairobi to discuss the sadden demise of their leader.

The Kenyan capital has been the base for Garang's movement and is home to thousands of Sudanese nationals who came here as refugees.

Wailing mourners flocked to Garang's movement headquarters in Nairobi as word of his death send shock waves across the region.

The Kenyan president, ministers and lawmakers have sent messages of condolence to Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir and the people of Sudan following the demise of Garang.

"Dr. Garang will be remembered for the role he played not only in the realization of peace but also in shaping the political future of the Sudan. I do appreciate that the new-found peace in Sudan was inextricably interwoven with the very person of Dr. Garang," said Kibaki.

Garang died when the helicopter he was flying in crashed into a mountain in southern Sudan in bad weather, killing him and the other 13 people on board on Saturday night near Garang's base in New Site.

Officials say Garang's body has been taken to his former home in New Site.

The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) said they would wait for the investigations before they could announce the cause of the death.

"We are waiting for thorough investigations to determine the cause of the death. Right now it is too early to establish the cause of the death," SPLM spokesman Yasir Arman said by telephone.

However, some of the southerners have expressed suspicion over the circumstances of Garang's death.

"People are worried that the war will continue. They didn't understand the way he died. We are going to see," said Atem Maper, a Sudanese refugee in Nairobi.

The chief mediator during Sudan's peace negotiations, Lazarus Sumbeiywo, said he was sure there was no foul play in Garang's death because he flew over an area he controlled.

"I totally disregard foul play theory because the area he was flying into was an area he controlled," Sumbeiywo told reporters in Nairobi.

Large-scale riots have broken out in Sudan's capital Khartoum following the death of the vice president.

Correspondents say gangs of youths from southern Sudan are battling the security forces and looting cars.

Garang's deputy Salva Kiir said he called a meeting of the SPLM/ A top decision-making body to assemble for an emergency meeting.

The SPLM/A became part of the national unity government in July, when Garang became first vice president.

"I call upon all members of the SPLM and the entire Sudanese nation to remain calm and vigilant," said Kiir who is expected to take control of the former rebel group.

Sudan's President Omar el-Bashir said he was confident that the peace agreement would remain on course.

"We guarantee that the peace process will continue progressing in the same direction," Bashir said in an official statement announcing Garang's death.

"His passing will only reinforce our determination to pursue the peace process he and his comrades had started with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement," said the statement.

Garang signed a historic peace accord with the Khartoum government in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on January 9 to end more than two decades of war in southern Sudan.

On July 9 he was sworn in as new Sudanese first vice president as well as president of southern Sudan to serve for a six-year transitional period.

After the six years, a referendum would be held to decide whether southern Sudan should remain part of Sudan or break away to form its own state.

Analysts in Nairobi said the helicopter incident could throw the entire southern Sudan peace process into jeopardy given that Garang had played a key role in the process.

Source: Xinhua