South Sudan independence figure Joseph Lagu dies aged 94

South Sudan is observing national mourning on Wednesday following the death of Joseph Lagu, a key figure in the independence of the world's youngest country, who told AFP that he began his fight armed with only "a machete".

South Sudan broke away from Sudan in 2011 after years of conflict.

Lagu, who was 94, was a founding member in 1963 of Anyanya, named after the poison hunters used to coat the tips of their arrows. It was the first armed movement to fight against the Sudanese government. Among those who served under his command was current South Sudanese President Salva Kiir.

"While his family and the nation mourn his death, I also ask the public to celebrate his life, because he lived to see the birth of a country for which he fought," Kiir said in a statement.

In 1972, Lagu led negotiations that ended Sudan's first civil war, which killed about 500,000 people, and secured regional autonomy for South Sudan within Sudan.

He later served as Sudan's second vice-president and as the country's permanent representative to the United Nations.

Kiir described Lagu as "a statesman, military officer, seasoned diplomat and prominent South Sudanese politician", whose career "places him among the most significant figures in the history of South Sudan".

The president has declared a period of national mourning until Lagu's burial. The date of the funeral has not yet been announced.

The former rebel leader gave an interview to AFP in 2011, as South Sudan was preparing to vote on secession from Sudan.

"We started fighting for independence empty-handed", with "three rifles at the time", Lagu recalled. "I myself had only a machete as a weapon."

"We knew our cause was just, but we had no means," he said. Lagu received his first shipment of weapons from Congo before securing Israeli support after Sudan backed Egypt during the 1967 Six-Day War.

"I had written to the Israeli prime minister, flattering his ego by telling him: 'I am happy that you, the chosen people of God, defeated the Arabs,'" he recalled. "Then I added: 'I too am fighting against the Arabs, so if you supply us with weapons, I will neutralise the Sudanese forces, which will then no longer be able to support Egypt against you.'"