Darfur rebels condemn killing of US diplomat

January 2, 2007 (LONDON) — The Dafur rebel groups have strongly condemned the incident which led to the killing of a US citizen, who was working for USAID in Khartoum, and his Sudanese driver.

Three Darfur rebel groups denounced the killing of the US diplomat in Khartoum saying that such murder was a crime strange to Sudan. They held the Sudanese government responsible of the killing adding it was the government responsibility to safeguard the security of foreigners working in the country.

Darfur SLM founder Abdelwahid al-Nur said Khartoum used to kill Darfur civilians without accountability and now they extending this terror against unfriendly foreigners in a new phase of generalisation of insecurity in the country.

Ahmed Hussein Adam the spokesperson Justice and Equality Movement condemned the “rigoristic rhetoric” spread by the leadership of the National Congress Party which leads inevitably to the emergence of extremism in the country.

Esam Eddine al-Haj, the spokesperson of the SLM led by Ahmed Abdelshafi, said NCP government harbored and supported the terrorism since the 1989 coup d’etat. He also underlined that this murder occurred the day where the AU force transferred authority to the Hybrid peacekeeping force in Darfur.

US diplomat, John Granville, who worked for the US Agency for International Development, died of injuries sustained in a shooting incident in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, on Tuesday.

Granville was shot and killed by gunmen in a passing car who cut him off as he was being driven home. Sudanese officials insisted it was not a terrorist attack but the US embassy said it was too soon to determine the motive.

The attack occurred one day after US President George W. Bush signed a law aimed at increasing economic pressure on the Sudanese government.

(ST)