Four men sentenced to death for murder of Sudanese businessman

By ABAKAR SALEH Associated Press Writer

N’DJAMENA, Chad, Oct. 25, 2003 (AP) — A criminal court convicted and sentenced four men to death on Saturday for the murder of a Sudanese businessman.

Sheik Ibn Oumar Idriss Youssouf, executive director of the privately owned Chad Petroleum Company, was shot and killed in N’djamena on Sept. 25.

The trial of the four men – Mahamat Adam Issa, Moubarak Bakhit Abderahmane, Abderahamane Hamid Haroun and Adouma Ali Ahmat, a former director at the oil company – began on Thursday.

There were no other details immediately available.

The murder of Youssouf caused a scandal in Chad, a vast, dirt-poor landlocked country in the heart of Africa, which is keen to attract foreign investors. A special session of the criminal court was held to hear the murder case.