The United States has said that Abdel-Ra’uf Abuzaid who was among individuals convicted for the 2008 murders of its Embassy Personnel, John Granville and Abdel Rahman Abbas, remains a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
In a statement released by the State Department Spokesman, Ned Price on Tuesday, said United States expressed deep concerns over the convicted murderer’s release on Monday, January 30, 2023.
According to the statement, “We are deeply troubled by the lack of transparency in the legal process that resulted in the release of this only individual remaining in custody
“And by the inaccurate assertion that the release was agreed to by the United States Government as part of the Sudanese government’s settlement of victims’ claims in connection with Sudan’s removal from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list in 2020”.
United States vowed to seek clarity about this decision, adding that the Department’s Rewards for Justice program, managed by the Diplomatic Security Service, has a current 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, two other individuals responsible for murders of USAID employees John Granville and Abdel Rahman Abbas”, the statement added.
Recall 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.