S.Sudan declares mourning period for dead independence hero
The country waged decades of violent struggle against its northern neighbour Sudan — Lagu signed a 1970s peace deal that ended the first civil war — before finally achieving independence in 2011.
Southern Sudanese rebel veteran General Joseph Lagu hold his autobiography with a photograph of himself in uniform during an interview with AFP in the southern capital Juba on December 4, 2010. (Photo by PETER MARTELL / AFP)
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JUBA — South Sudan declared a period of national mourning after the death on Tuesday of Joseph Lagu, an independence hero to the world's youngest nation. He was 94.
The country waged decades of violent struggle against its northern neighbour Sudan — Lagu signed a 1970s peace deal that ended the first civil war — before finally achieving independence in 2011.
In an interview with AFP that year, he said he had started his fight armed only with his "bare hands" and a conviction that the south needed freedom.
"As his family and the nation mourn his passing, I urge the public to also celebrate his life, because he lived to see the birth of the country he fought for," President Salva Kiir said in a statement.
The national mourning period would last until his funeral, attended by Kiir.
Lagu co-founded the Anyanya in 1963, the first armed movement against Sudan's government. It was named after a venom hunters used to coat their arrowheads.
He later served as the second Vice President of Sudan, and subsequently as the country's Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
"A career path that places him among the most historic figures in the history of South Sudan," the statement said.
Machete, Congo, Israel
His interview with AFP in 2011 came as the country was preparing to vote on secession.
"We saw no other option than to fight for the right of our people to live in freedom," he said, describing the hardships he and his men — including future president Kiir — faced.
They would receive much-needed support from Israel — which Lagu was instrumental in securing.
After Sudan backed Egypt during the 1967 Six-Day War, Lagu said he directly appealed to the Israeli PM for support.
Later, he worked to prevent conflict.
As tensions mounted internally after independence — culminating in the 2013 civil war between Kiir and vice president Riek Machar — the then-79-year-old urged people to take to the ballot box.
"We took arms to liberate our people," he told reporters.
"If it is a matter of losing elections today, why don't you wait for the next term and stand again? This is what democracy means."
His death comes just months before South Sudan may finally hold its first-ever election.