The four, sentenced to death for killing John Granville and
Abdelrahman Abbas Rahama, escaped through the sewerage system of Kober
prison and shot dead a police officer as they fled past a checkpoint
outside the capital on Saturday, police said.The embassy said it was
"deeply troubled" by the escape of the men. Granville and Rahama,
employees of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), were
shot when they returned from New Year's celebrations on Jan. 1, 2008."The
US Embassy requests the government of Sudan to initiate a thorough investigation of
the circumstances surrounding this escape from one of Sudan's most secure
prisons," said the embassy in a statement.It also called on Sudan to prosecute
any groups or individuals who helped the fugitives.Interpol issues
an alert to police forces in 188 countries to watch out for the men who
it described as dangerous.An official from Sudan's police,
speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters he thought the four men
were still in Sudan,
and said the force had set up a committee to investigate the escape.During
the four men's trial, the prosecution said defendants Mohamed Makkawi
Ibrahim Mohamed and Abdel Basit Al-Hajj Hassan fired the fatal shots.Prosecution
statements said the third defendant, Mohamed Osman Yusuf Mohamed, a
former army officer, was the driver of the attackers' vehicle, while
Abdel Raouf Abu Zaid Mohamed, the son of a well-known Islamic preacher,
was a passenger.The four denied murdering Granville and Rahama,
saying taped confessions were extracted under torture.Days after the
attack, a previously unknown group calling itself Ansar Al-Tawhid
(Supporters of Monotheism) in Sudan, posted a message on a website used by militants
claiming responsibility for the killings. The group said it was fighting
efforts to "Christianize" Sudan.
