June 24, 2009 (KHARTOUM) – The US Secretary of state Hillary Clinton today lauded the sentences handed down by a Sudanese court against members of an extremists groups accused of killing a USAID employee and his driver last year.

Four Sudanese convicts lift their handcuffs as they are escorted out of the courtroom in the capital Khartoum, June 24, 2009Four Sudanese convicts lift their handcuffs as they are escorted out of the courtroom in the capital Khartoum, June 24, 2009 (Reuters)

Five men were found guilty today by the judge of killing John Granville and his Sudanese driver Abdel Rahman Abbas on 2008 New Years Eve after opening fire on them from a car.

Only four of the five men were sentenced to death by hanging while the fifth was sentenced to two years in prison because his role was limited to supplying the weapon for the attack.

“I believe the guilty verdicts handed down today are an important step in bringing justice for John Granville and Abdelrahman Abbas Rahama, US Agency for International Development (USAID) workers murdered in Sudan in 2008,” Clinton said in a statement.

“They were dedicated to bringing peace and stability to Sudan and we honor their memory,” she added.

The assassins are believed to belong to an extremist cell formed after Sudan allowed UN peacekeepers in the war-ravaged region of Darfur.

Granville’s mom, Jane said in a statement read before court that she will not accept any monetary compensation in return for reduced sentence. The emotional letter described John as a “noble” and “unique” person whose death was a “great” loss not just to his family and friends but also to the people of Sudan.

Jane said that John kept asking about his driver when he briefly regained consciousness in hospital.

She said that her belief that life imprisonment is the appropriate punishment for the murder but since Sudanese law does not provide for that “I have no other option” but to endorse the capital punishment “to protect others from those killed my beloved son”.

Under Sudanese penal code the families of the victims have the choice to accept “blood money” as an alternative for sending the suspects to the death row.

However, the family of the Sudanese driver also insisted that the death sentence be carried out.

The suspects screamed following the verdict loudly in Arabic “God is Great”.

Granville was killed one day after US President George W. Bush signed a law encouraging divestment from companies which do business in Sudan in an effort to up economic pressure on Khartoum over Darfur.

USAID is the leading international donor to Sudan and has contributed more than two billion dollars for humanitarian programmes in the country, including Darfur, and in eastern Chad across the border since 2004.

(ST)