Salva Kiir, successor to the late southern Sudanese leader John Garang, is to arrive in Khartoum on Wednesday on his first visit to the capital in more than 22 years.

Lieutenant General Kiir is due to be sworn as first vice president at a brief ceremony in Khartoum on Thursday, replacing Garang, who died in a helicopter crash on 30 July after three weeks in the job.

Kiir, chairman of the former southern rebel group, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), will fly to Khartoum from Rumbaik in south Sudan in a presidential aircraft, the Sudanese press reported.

The press added that he would be received at Khartoum airport by dignitaries including political and religious leaders as well as community leaders from the north and south.

The authorities stepped up security in the capital and its suburbs ahead of the visit, deploying additional armed police and soldiers on the streets, which witnessed deadly riots after Garang's death.

There were no posters of Kiir on the streets or public buildings as was the case with the high-profile return to Khartoum of his predecessor on 8 July, when a crowd of more than a million showed up at the city's main square to welcome Garang.

PHOTO CAPTION

Salva Kiir.