Sudan stands on brink.

Byline: The Register-Guard

The death of John Garang threatens to shatter the fragile peace that ended a lengthy civil war in southern Sudan and that offers hope for ending the genocide in the western province of Darfur.

Garang was a charismatic rebel leader who led a struggle by the Christian and animist south against the Muslim government of Khartoum in the country's north. The war wrought devastation for 22 years, claiming more than 2 million victims and spreading into northern Uganda. After Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni backed Garang's fight against the Khartoum regime, Sudanese leader Lt. Gen. Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir retaliated by providing arms and refuge in southern Sudan to Ugandan rebel Joseph Kony's struggle against Museveni.

Garang was no stranger to violence, but he also was a capable leader who managed to keep a lid on intense tribal factionalism in the south, while at the same time forcing al-Bashir to the peace table. Kony, by contrast, is neither a freedom fighter nor a diplomat. He's a murderous cult leader who abducts children to fill the ranks of an army that has spread death and destruction throughout northern Uganda.

Garang died last week in a helicopter crash as he was returning from a meeting with Museveni to discuss Kony. His death threatens to spark inter-tribal violence in the south, giving Khartoum a convenient excuse to breach the peace agreement and resume its war against the south. It also could worsen the situations in Uganda, as well as Darfur, where up to 300,000 people have died and more than 2 million have been forced to flee their homes.

Garang's death already has led to riots in Khartoum, as well as Juba, the major city in southern Sudan. Even though there is no evidence that the helicopter crash was anything other than an accident, many of Garang's followers believe it was engineered by Bashir's government.

The United States must intensify its diplomatic efforts in Sudan, where the Bush administration played a key role in helping to end the civil war. U.S. officials can help ensure the peace agreement survives by making certain that Garang's successor as leader in the south, Salva Kiir Mayardit, is elevated to the vice presidency and that Khartoum fulfills its commitment to give the south broad autonomy and, six years from now, the right to vote on secession.

Meanwhile, the administration should follow through on its commitment to provide $1 billion for rebuilding the south, and make clear that existing U.S. sanctions will remain in place until Khartoum stops the killing in Darfur and ends its support for Kony's rebellion.

The White House has made a good start by dispatching two high-level envoys to Sudan. Meanwhile, Garang's widow, Rebecca, is urging her husband's followers not to work against the peace agreement that he signed with the government. "My husband is alive, not dead, because he has brought Sudan to peace," she said.

The Bush administration must do everything possible to make those words become reality and to end the many years of suffering in Sudan.