KHARTOUM (Reuters) - The U.S. embassy in Khartoum called on Tuesday for an investigation into how four murderers of a U.S. aid official and his driver managed to escape from one of Sudan's most secure prisons.
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 Friday, police said.
The embassy said it was "deeply troubled" by the escape of the men. Granville and Rahama, employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), were shot when they returned from New Year's celebrations on January 1 2008.
"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.
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 "Christianise" Sudan.
(Reporting by Andrew Heavens)
