VZCZCXRO1400
OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHGI RUEHKUK RUEHMA RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #0796 1801330
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 291330Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4010
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 000796 
 
DEPT FOR SE GRATION, S/USSES, AF A/S CARSON, AF/C, AF/PDPA 
IIP/G/AF, PA/PRS/RRU-AF 
NSC FOR MGAVIN 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KPKO SOCI ASEC KPAO OIIP AU SU
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: COVERAGE OF VERDICTS AND SENTENCING 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: The state-influenced Khartoum press corps provided 
detailed, factual coverage of the June 24 courtroom verdicts and 
sentencing of the five men accused of the January 1, 2008 murders of 
two U.S. Embassy employees.  Notable by their absence was the dearth 
of editorials and op-eds on this subject.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) Most of Khartoum's newspapers echoed the official line of the 
state-run Sudanese Media Center, whose matter-of-fact headline on 
June 25 proclaimed that the "Court Issues Death Sentence Against 
Four Convicts and Imprisonment of the Fifth One in the Granville 
Assassination Case."  Some media, including the pro-government 
"Al-Intibaha" and "Akhir Lahza" newspapers, took note of the fact 
that the U.S. had reacted with official pronouncements on the 
verdicts and sentencing, with front-page headlines such as "America 
Hails Death Sentence Handed Down on the Defendants of the Granville 
Trial" and "U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Lauds Death 
Sentence for Granville's Assassinators." 
 
¶3. (U) Many newspapers chose to run a picture of the four men 
sentenced to death exiting the court on June 24 with their hands 
held high, shouting "God is Great!"  The picture (available online 
at http://tinyurl.com/n5jzd8) ran without commentary, with a factual 
run-down of the events at the trial. 
 
¶4. (U) Only "Al-Khartoum," a relatively independent newspaper, had 
anything close to a commentary on the sentencing.   A columnist 
wrote that "if death sentences do not serve the purpose of deterring 
others, they are meaningless" and that "Granville's case will not be 
the last in Sudan." 
 
¶5. (SBU) COMMENT:  The dearth of commentary could be due to  renewed 
hopes of improved relations with the United States and the close 
timing of the trial verdict with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement 
forum in Washington.  It is possible that for this reason Khartoum's 
notorious censors struck all opinion reporting from media, 
especially that critical of the verdict and sentencing of the men 
convicted of the murders of USAID Khartoum's John Granville and his 
driver Abdelrahman Abbas Rahama.  END COMMENT. 
 
WHITEHEAD