VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKH #0612/01 1310944
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 110944Z MAY 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3737
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC 0073

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 000612 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DOJ FOR NATIONAL SECURITY DIVISION 
DEPT FOR M, P, L, AF, DS, AF/SPG, CA AND S/CT 
DEPT FOR USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC PTER PGOV SU
SUBJECT: MAY 5 SESSION OF GRANVILLE/ABBAS MURDER TRIAL 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  On May 5, 2009, five U.S. Embassy Foreign 
Service National (FSN) employees from the Regional Security Office, 
Political/Economic and Public Affairs sections attended the trial of 
five Sudanese men accused in the January 1, 2008 murders of USAID 
Officer John Granville and FSN driver Abdelrahman Abbas.  The 
defense called one witness to testify, Colonel Adil Ahmed Ibrahim, a 
personnel administrator in the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).  A legal 
advisor from SAF, Major Mohamed Ali Musa, accompanied Col Ibrahim. 
Also present was defense witness Mohamed Abdelgadir, a weapons 
expert, who was not able to testify because he had not been able to 
examine the vehicle.  The Judge refused all documents presented by 
the defense and stated that the defendant, retired army officer 
Muhaned Osman Yousif, would be tried in the civilian (vice military) 
court  The next trial sessions are scheduled for May 13 and 17. END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (U) The trial of the five Sudanese men accused of the January 1, 
2008 terrorist murders of USAID Officer John Granville and FSN 
driver Abdelrahman Abbas continued on May 5, 2009.  The prosecution 
was represented by Chair Mohamed Mustafa Musa, Juma Al Wakul 
Al-Asir, and Granville family attorney Taha Ibrahim.  Abbas family 
attorney, Ismail Abu Sugra, was absent.  The defense was represented 
by deputy defense Chair Adil Abdul Ghani, Ahmed Abu Agla, Jamal 
Altahir, and Wajdi Salih.  The defense Chair, Siddiq Kadoda, was not 
present. 
 
¶3.   (U) The defense called one witness to testify, Colonel Adil 
Ahmed Ibrahim, a personnel administrator in SAF.  Accompanying Col. 
Ibrahim was Major Mohamed Ali Musa, a legal advisor from SAF.  Two 
documents were presented to the court.  The first was defense 
document #13 dated 13 May 2007, which was a sample retirement 
document that did not list the defendant's name.  The defense 
presented it as an example of the retiring officers list that the 
SAF personnel section would receive prior to a group of military 
officers being retired.  The prosecution objected to the document 
based on the fact that it is a copy vice an original and that it had 
not been stamped by the SAF personnel office.  Granville family 
attorney, Taha Ibrahim, stated that the document has no relevancy to 
the case.  The defense explained that the personnel files for 
Muhaned Osman Yousif are not allowed to be released without the 
express consent of the SAF Headquarters.  Judge al-Badri received 
the document and passed it to the prosecution to examine.  The Judge 
accepted the document into evidence, but said the content would be 
examined later. 
 
¶4.  (U) The second document that was submitted by the defense was a 
transfer cable entered as defense document #14, dated July 30, 2007, 
and listed as cable number #363.  This cable contains orders for 
defendant Muhaned Osman Yousif to transfer from the Kataru Training 
Center in Khartoum North to the Military Intelligence Department 
(MID). 
 
¶5.  (U) The prosecution began the questioning by asking the witness 
if it was necessary for all retirement cases to be issued by the SAF 
Headquarters in one cable.  Col. Ibrahim responded that it was not. 
The prosecution then asked if it was possible to have a 
supplementary cable with additional retiring officers listed.  Col. 
Ibrahim responded that it is possible to have an additional cable 
issued by the personnel office.  The prosecution asked: "Do you 
remember any case with incorrect information listed in the First 
Lieutenant's retirement cable?"  Col Ibrahim responded that there 
were no mistakes made in his section [note: Col. Ibrahim is the 
section chief for first lieutenants], but that other sections do 
make mistakes.  The prosecution asked, "who signs the retirement 
decision papers for first lieutenants?"  Col Ibrahim stated, "The 
President of the Republic." 
 
¶6.  (U) The defense team began their questioning by asking, "What is 
your job in relation to the President's decision?"  Col. Ibrahim 
stated that he gets a memo with a listing of the retirees from the 
President's office and then distributes it from the personnel office 
to all SAF units.  They asked, "For the First Lieutenants who had 
been listed to retire, how many cables were issued?"  Col. Ibrahim 
stated, "one cable."  The defense then questioned, "except for 
Muhaned's name, are there any other officers whose name appeared in 
the transfer cables after he had been listed as retiring?"  Col. 
Ibrahim replied that he was not sure. [Note: Muhaned's name appeared 
in one retirement document produced by the prosecution while the 
defense produced a separate document for retired first lieutenants 
that did not have his name listed]. 
 
¶7.  (U) The defense asked how the officers are transferred, and Col. 
Ibrahim replied that it is "through the network." The defense then 
asked, "could there be mistakes in the data entry?"  The witness 
replied that there could be mistakes because data entry takes a lot 
of time. He also stated that mistakes are fixed later. 
 
¶8.  (U) The final question by the defense concerned Shantu Ali 
Gutyah, a military police instructor.  They asked whether Gutyah was 
currently working.  Col. Ibrahim replied that he is retired, but is 
working as a contractor for the SAF. 
 
¶9.  (U) After Judge al-Badri took one hour to evaluate the 
documents, he addressed the court refusing all the defense documents 
presented stating, "regardless of whether the defendant was in the 
military or not, he should be tried in this court."  The next trial 
dates are scheduled for May 13 and 17 with Mohamed Abdelgadir, a 
weapons expert, testifying for the defense. 
 
FERNANDEZ