U.S. deeply concerned by release of Sudanese man found guilty of killing diplomat

FILE PHOTO: 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. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah

Washington is deeply concerned over the release this week of a Sudanese man facing the death penalty in connection with the killing of a U.S. diplomat in 2008, the State Department said on Wednesday.

Abdelraouf Abuzeid was found guilty, along with others, in the killing of American John Granville and a Sudanese colleague, who both worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development and were killed by gunmen in Khartoum.