NAIROBI, Aug. 1 (Xinhuanet) -- Sudanese Vice President and former rebel leader John Garang was killed in an air crash, President Omar el-Bashir said in a statement on Monday.

   The statement was made following a meeting of the Sudanese Council of Ministers chaired by Bashir and attended by some officials of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) led by Garang.

   The crash occurred when Garang left Uganda by helicopter late on Saturday to return to Sudan after talks with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

   Uganda later said it had lost contact with the aircraft.

   The statement said the helicopter carrying Garang from Uganda to southern Sudan crashed, killing Garang and other six people on board.

   It said that the chopper crashed after it hit the Amatong Mountain in southern Sudan due to bad weather condition.

   Garang, key leader of Sudan's southern rebels, had led a 21-year-long war against the Sudanese government.

   After signing a landmark comprehensive peace deal with Khartoum ending the longest civil war in Africa, Garang was sworn in as first vice president on July 9.  Enditem