WORLD BRIEFING / SUDAN
A court convicted five people in the slaying of an American diplomat last year and sentenced four of them to death.
Gunmen firing from a car killed John Granville and his Sudanese driver on Jan. 1, 2008, as he was returning home from a New Year’s party in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital. Granville, 33, from Buffalo, N.Y., worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Four of the defendants were convicted of murder, possession of firearms and other charges and sentenced to death by hanging. One of them is a former Sudanese army officer, who was in active service at the time of Granville’s slaying.
A fifth defendant was convicted of selling the weapons used in the attack and sentenced to two years in prison.
The five men say they were coerced to confess to the American’s killing. Their lawyer said he would appeal.
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