The United States is concerned over the release of Abdel-Ra'uf Abuzaid, who was among other individuals convicted by a Sudanese court for the killing of a USAID employee and his driver in 2008, the US State Department said on Wednesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st February, 2023) The United States is concerned over the release of Abdel-Ra'uf Abuzaid, who was among other individuals convicted by a Sudanese court for the killing of a USAID employee and his driver in 2008, the US State Department said on Wednesday.
"The United States expresses our deep concern over the January 30 release of Abdel-Ra'uf Abuzaid, one of the individuals convicted of the 2008 murders of our colleagues John Granville and Abdel Rahman Abbas," the department said in a press release. "We are deeply troubled by the lack of transparency in the legal process that resulted in the release of the only individual remaining in custody..."
The United States refutes the assertion that the release was a result of some agreement between the US and Sudanese governments to settle victims' claims in connection with Sudan's removal from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list in 2020, according to the release.
The US State Department vows to seek clarity about this decision, the release added.
In 2010, four men, convicted in the murder of the US diplomat and his driver, managed to escape from prison in the Sudanese capital by digging a tunnel through the kitchen floors after sunset prayers. The four inmates dug between 0.5 and 1 meter daily using plumbing pipes, according to the department.
Abuzaid was later captured by Sudanese officials, while a second convict, Mohannad Osman Youssef, was killed in Somalia.
There is still a reward offer of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Mohamed Makawi Ibrahim Mohamed or Abdelbasit Alhaj Alhassan Haj Hamad, the other two convicts, the release noted.
