NAIROBI, Aug. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- Southern Sudan militia, South Sudanese Defense Forces (SSDF), has denied the rumor that their leader Paulino Matip had been killed in the reported violence in Khartoum.

    Former SSDF chairman Riak Gai said in a statement that Lt. Gen.Matip did not die, adding that the rumors circulating that Muslimshave declared Jihad (holy war) are not true.

    Gai said "People from the north and south must preserve the peace."

    "I urge my brothers in the north not to go down to the same levels and target the southerners. We have surpassed this stage," said the Gai.

    The rumors were also denied by the Khartoum government, who said the militia leader was alive and in good health.

    "The Foreign Ministry (of Sudan) would like to refute the rumorthat General Paulino Matip is dead. General Paulino is in good health," State Minister for Foreign Affairs Najib Abdulwahab said in a statement.

    The central Khartoum was deserted on Wednesday while troops andriot police headed towards the center of the Sudanese capital where fresh violence had been reported.

    Reports say streets were full of cars heading out of the city center, while at least five truckloads of soldiers and riot policeheaded into a downtown residential and commercial area.

    State security and army officials were turning back any cars that were heading towards the center.

    Some southerners fear that the death of Garang, who led a southern uprising for two decades before forging peace with the government, could weaken their hand under power sharing arrangements agreed in the January peace deal.

    At least 71 people have been reportedly killed and more than 800 others wounded in the violence which erupted after ex-rebel southern leader John Garang died in a helicopter crash.

    US envoys on Wednesday met Garang's successor Salva Kiir, who analysts say may prove a more unifying figure among southern factions.

    Garang signed a peace deal with the Khartoum government to end 21 years of civil war in January and was sworn in as the vice-president of Sudan three weeks ago.

    Kiir has been chosen as new leader of the former southern rebel group, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), and is expected also to be the country's vice-president. Enditem