afrol News, 2 January - Sudanese police have opened investigations into the assassination of an American diplomat shot in the capital Khartoum in the early hours of the new year. John Granville, 33, worked with the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

A local employee of the agency, Abdelrahman Abbas Rahama, 39, also died in the attack. Until their deaths, both men were trying their best to bring lasting peace and stability in Sudan, a country bedevilled with conflict and violence.

Unidentified gun men attacked Granville and his driver as they drove home from a new year's party from the American Embassy in Khartoum.

Sudanese police, who are working closely with the US to investigate the high profile assassination, have invited several witnesses for questioning.

Khartoum condemned the assassination in the strongest possible terms, but it ruled out its link with terrorists.

The incident was a rare one in many years, as the capital is not synonymous with violent crimes.

The US Agency is a leading international donor that has contributed more than US $2 billion for humanitarian programs in the country and eastern Chad since fiscal year 2004. USAID provides life-saving assistance to more than three million people affected by a long-running conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.

USAID formally reopened its mission in Sudan in May 2006. This followed the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended a 21-year civil war between the North and South Sudan.

A former Sudanese slave and activist, Simon Deng, said this is not the first time a diplomat has been killed in Khartoum. Deng accused Sudan of playing a "cat and mouse game."

By staff writer

© afrol News

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