Sudan: U.S pressures Sudan in diplomat’s murderers’ escape


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The United States has demanded the Sudanese government find and put to death four Sudanese who killed an American diplomat and his driver in 2008.

The four condemned killers who include a former military officer and the son of a leader of pacifist Islamist group Ansar al-Sunna, escaped from prison on Thursday and are yet to be found.

“The United States government expects that Sudanese authorities will apprehend these convicted murderers, and ensure that justice is served for the men killed and their families,” US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said in a statement.

The five Sudanese men described as “Islamic extremists” by the prosecution, were sentenced to death by hanging after being charged with murder in 2008. Four of the men were handed the death penalty, and one was sentenced to two years in prison for providing the arms.

The four men denied carrying out the killing and said confessions had been dug out under torture. Before their escape, they were on death row awaiting execution.

“The US government has closely followed the trial of these men… and has appreciated the Government of Sudan’s efforts and cooperation in prosecuting the murderers, who showed no remorse for their actions during the trial,” Crowley added.

The four condemned murderers escaped on Thursday from the Kober jail in northern Khartoum, a security source in the Sudanese capital told AFP on Friday. According to reports, the four fugitives broke out through the prison sewer system then exchanged fire with police as they fled in a vehicle past a checkpoint west of the Khartoum suburb of Omdurman early on Friday.

The United States said it expected Sudan to capture them; however, no further details on the manhunt of the fugitives have been released to the media.

“The United States government expects that Sudanese authorities will apprehend these convicted murderers and ensure that justice is served for the men killed and their families,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters in Washington.

The U.S diplomat, John Granville, worked for the US Agency for International Development (USAID). He and his driver, Abdel Rahman Abbas, were shot dead in their car on January 1, 2008 as they returned from a New Year’s Eve celebration.

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