The United States has condemned Sudan for pardoning a man convicted of aiding the escape of four prisoners who were serving sentences for killing a U.S. diplomat and his driver.
In a statement Monday, the U.S. embassy in Khartoum urges the Sudanese government to rescind the pardon of Mubarak Mustafa. It says the pardon goes against Sudan's assurances that it would hold accountable those involved in the 2008 murder of U.S. diplomat John Michael Granville and his driver, Abdelrahman Abbas Rahama.
Sudan convicted five men in connection with the case in 2009 and sentenced four of them to death. Those four escaped prison in 2010 with what a court said was Mustafa's help. One of the men is reported to have died in 2011 and another is back in prison.
Last month, the U.S. government offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the capture of the remaining two convicts, Alhai Alhassan Haj Hamad and Mohamed Makawi Ibrahim Mohamed. The State Department has designated both men as terrorists.