KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Abdelraouf Abuzeid, a Sudanese man who was found guilty in the killing of the U.S. diplomat John Granville in Khartoum in 2008, apologized to Granville’s family and renounced extremism following his release earlier this week, Abuzeid told Reuters on Friday.
The release approved by Sudan’s high court is based on a multimillion-dollar 2020 settlement between Sudan and victims of attacks including the one that killed Granville, Abuzeid’s brother told Reuters on Monday.
The United States on Thursday called on the Sudanese government to use all available legal means to reverse the decision and State Department spokesperson Ned Price called the assertion of a U.S. agreement to the release inaccurate.
Granville’s mother, Jane Granville, said on Wednesday that she was horrified by hearing of Abuzeid’s release.
“In no way did (the settlement) say that that money was going to release any of these men that killed John,” Jane Granville said in an interview. “I never would’ve accepted it if that was part of it.”
Abuzeid on Friday apologized to “Granville’s family, his mother and to the American and Sudanese people over what happened.”
“I left all extreme thoughts behind me after deep intellectual reviews, and I no longer belong to any organization or group,” he said.
(Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Alaa Swilam; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
