20100615
africanews

The US embassy in Sudan's Khartoum has called for an investigation into how four murderers of a US aid official and his driver managed to stage a prison break in the country. The men escaped through the sewerage system of Kober Prison and shot dead a police officer while fleeing via a checkpoint Saturday.

"The U.S. 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.

The four men, sentenced to death for the murder of John Granville and Abdelrahman Abbas Rahama, are believed to be hiding in Sudan, according to the police in a Reuters report. A committee has been set up to investigate the escape.

The statement has also called on Sudan to prosecute any groups or individuals who helped the fugitives asking the Interpol to issue an alert to police forces in 188 countries to watch out for the men on the run.

The embassy said it was "deeply troubled" by the escape of the prisoners, convicted of killing Granville and Rahama, both employers of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), as they returned from New Year's celebrations on January 1 2008.

Meanwhile, 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.