Four killers of US official could escape death: lawyer

Four Sudanese convicts lift their handcuffs as they are escorted out of the courtroom in the capital Khartoum, June 24, 2009. Four Sudanese men were on Wednesday condemned to hang for killing a U.S. aid official and his driver in Khartoum, and a fifth was sentenced to two years in prison. John Granville, from the U.S. Agency for International Development, was the first U.S. government official killed in Khartoum in more than three decades in a crime that sent shockwaves through the capital's expatriate community.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Four men convicted of murdering a U.S. aid official and his driver in Khartoum could escape the death penalty if the family of the American victim rescinded its request for execution, the defense lawyer said Monday.

The four were condemned to hang for killing John Granville, 33, who worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development, and his driver, Abdelrahman Abbas Rahama, 39.

Under Sudanese law, the families of murder victims can choose blood money or the death penalty for retribution.

Granville's mother, Jane, said in a letter read after the sentencing in June that she preferred the killers be jailed for life, but because this option had not been offered she backed the death penalty.

Defense lawyer Adil Abdelgani told Reuters the father of the driver had waived his right for execution, prompting the court to seek the view of Granville's family again.

"They will not issue a new sentence until they hear the views of the family of the late Granville. If they ask for the death penalty, they will get it," Abdelgani said.

He said court could still to decide to imprison the men, which he said would be a sentence based on the principle of a punishment "in the public interest."

Granville was the first U.S. official to be killed in Khartoum for more than 30 years. He was returning home from New Year celebrations on January 1, 2008, when he and Rahama were shot. Granville was from near Buffalo, N.Y.

Lawyers said the four men, all in their 20s and 30s, shouted Islamic slogans after the killing.

(Reporting by Skye Wheeler)