Salva Kiir will be sworn in as Sudanese first vice president on Thursday following the death of John Garang, the official SUNA news agency reported on Monday.

Kiir will arrive in Khartoum from southern Sudan on Wednesday to succeed Garang, who was killed in a helicopter crash on his way from Uganda to New Site in the south on July 30.

Deputy Chairman of southern Sudan authority Riack Machar said the Supreme Council of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement(SPLM) had held several meetings since Garang's burial.

He said the SPLM leadership has decided that Kiir should be sworn in as first vice president on Thursday to begin his duties.

Machar pointed out that the SPLM's new chairman has a lot of work to do, including electing national unity government members.

Garang had led the SPLM for more than two decades. His sudden death cast doubt over strategy of the movement's new leadership.

Also on Monday, Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir issued a decree to form a high-level national committee to investigate a helicopter crash that killed Garang.

The committee, which will include members from both the Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), should conduct a full investigation into circumstances that led to the crash and the death of all people on board, said the decree.

Specifically, the committee will probe technical condition of the copter along with air safety procedures when it took off, the time when it lost contact and how and where it was later found.

The decree authorized the committee to call whoever has any evidence that will help the investigation, collect any document and information and ask for help from national and foreign experts.

After taking an oath, the committee will take every necessary procedure to achieve its mission and report investigation results to the president within a month.

(Xinhua News Agency August 9, 2005)