WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Washington is deeply concerned over the release this week of a Sudanese man facing the death penalty in connection with the killing of a U.S. diplomat in 2008, the State Department said on Wednesday.
Abdelraouf Abuzeid was found guilty in the killing of American John Granville and a Sudanese colleague, who both worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development and were killed by gunmen in Khartoum.
An assertion by Abuzeid’s family that the United States agreed to his release as part of a Sudanese government settlement with the victims was inaccurate, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.
Price said the U.S. government is deeply troubled by a lack of transparency in the legal process that resulted in his release.
“We will continue to seek clarity about this decision,” Price said.
Abuzeid’s brother told Reuters on Monday that his sibling was released by the country’s high court two years after a financial settlement was reached between the Sudanese government and Granville’s family.
Abuzeid remains listed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the United States.
(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis and Kanishka Singh; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Daniel Wallis)
