—By Domani Spero
We blogged previously about the challenge of holding the killers of USAID Officer John Granville and FSN Abdel Rahman Abbas accountable in the Sudanese judicial system. After their 2010 escape from Khartoum’s max security prison, one is reportedly dead, one is back in jail and two remains at large three years after their escape. These two have a $5 million bounty on each head. The State Department has now designated the third and last of the convicted murderers as a terrorist under E.O 13244. The individual is back jail, so not sure why this designation is happening now. Unless this is in preparation for when Hamza gets to escape again.
- $10 Million Bounty for Sudanese Killers of USAID Employees Killed in 2008
- How much does a US diplomat’s life worth? About $1,800 US dollars, and look there’s no raging mob…
- Convicted Killer of USAID Employees in Sudan, and 2010 Escapee Reportedly Killed in Somalia
The U.S. Department of State has designated Abd Al-Ra’Ouf Abu Zaid Mohamed Hamza under Executive Order 13224, which targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism. As a result of this designation, all property subject to U.S. jurisdiction in which Hamza has any interest is blocked and any assets he may have under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen. U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with him.
Hamza, with three co-conspirators, participated in an armed attack in Khartoum, Sudan on January 1, 2008, which resulted in the deaths of a U.S. diplomat serving with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), John Michael Granville, and a locally employed U.S. Embassy staff member, Adbelrahman Abbas Rahama. The attack occurred when Granville and Abbas were leaving a New Year’s Eve party in Khartoum. Granville worked on democracy and governance programs for USAID.
The four men were convicted of murder and sentenced to death in a Sudanese criminal court in 2009. In 2010, the four men escaped from a maximum security prison, killing a Sudanese police officer and wounding another in the process. Shortly thereafter, Hamza was recaptured and is currently in prison in Khartoum. Another escapee was reportedly killed in Somalia in 2011, and the other two remain fugitives at large. These two fugitives, Abdelbasit Alhaj Alhasan Haj Hamad and Mohamed Makawi Ibrahim Mohamed, were designated as Specially Designated Global Terrorists under E.O. 13224 on January 8, 2013 and remain at large. The U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice program has authorized rewards of up to $5 million each for information leading to the capture of the two fugitives.
In making this designation, the Department seeks to emphasize to the public and, in particular, to the Granville and Abbas families, our commitment to justice prevailing in this case.
Active links added above. Check out the Rewards For Justice rogue’s gallery here.
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Related articles
- U.S. Freezes Assets of Killer of Diplomat (hispanicbusiness.com)
- US adds Sudanese al Qaeda operative involved in murder of diplomat to list of terrorists (longwarjournal.org)
- US blacklists Sudanese man who killed US diplomat (newsobserver.com)
- US Envoy’s Killers Escape from Sudan Death Row (waronterrornews.typepad.com)
- Murder in Khartoum – Remembering Ambassador Cleo Noel and DCM Curtis Moore (diplopundit.net)