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Five men appear in Sudan court over killing of US aid worker

Five Sudanese men accused of killing a US aid worker and his driver appeared in court for the first time on Sunday.

  • Agencies
  • Published: 17:13 August 17, 2008
  • Gulf News

Khartoum: Five Sudanese men accused of killing a US aid worker and his driver appeared in court for the first time on Sunday.

The five men, including a former army officer, were escorted to the courtroom amid high security and were greeted by a group of supporters as they arrived.

All media except Sudan's state-controlled Suna have been barred from attending the proceedings.

The judge registered the defendants' names after the initial hearing before dismissing the court as no lawyers for the prosecution were present. The case will resume on resume on August 31.

A defence lawyer said the defendants were Mohamed Osman Yusuf Mohamed, a 29-year-old former officer in the Sudanese army, Mohamed Makkawi Ibrahim Mohamed, a 23-year-old civil engineering student, Abdel Basit al-Hajj Hassan, a 29-year-old trader, Abdel Raouf Abu Zaid Mohamed, a 23-year-old merchant, and Morad Abdel Rahman, 35, who described himself as a driver.

The US embassy said a team including officers from the FBI and the US Bureau of Diplomatic Security had been in court during the proceedings.

A US embassy lawyer was granted permission to witness the case but not participate in it, The defence lawyer said.
During New Year celebrations on January 1, a 33-year-old officer for the US Agency for International Development, John Granville, was murdered, along with his driver, Abdelrahman Abbas Rahama.

The little-known froup Ansar Al Tawhid (Companions of Monotheism) soon claimed responsibility for the killings.

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