Terrorist Designation: Abd Al-Ra'Ouf Abu Zaid Mohamed Hamza

Terrorist Designation of Abd Al-Ra'Ouf Abu Zaid Mohamed Hamza

Media Note

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

July 3, 2013

The U.S. Department of State has designated Abd Al-Ra’Ouf Abu Zaid Mohamed Hamza under Executive Order 13224, which targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism. As a result of this designation, all property subject to U.S. jurisdiction in which Hamza has any interest is blocked and any assets he may have under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen. U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with him.

Hamza, with three co-conspirators, participated in an armed attack in Khartoum, Sudan on January 1, 2008, which resulted in the deaths of a U.S. diplomat serving with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), John Michael Granville, and a locally employed U.S. Embassy staff member, Adbelrahman Abbas Rahama. The attack occurred when Granville and Abbas were leaving a New Year’s Eve party in Khartoum. Granville worked on democracy and governance programs for USAID.

The four men were convicted of murder and sentenced to death in a Sudanese criminal court in 2009. In 2010, the four men escaped from a maximum security prison, killing a Sudanese police officer and wounding another in the process. Shortly thereafter, Hamza was recaptured and is currently in prison in Khartoum. Another escapee was reportedly killed in Somalia in 2011, and the other two remain fugitives at large. These two fugitives, Abdelbasit Alhaj Alhasan Haj Hamad and Mohamed Makawi Ibrahim Mohamed, were designated as Specially Designated Global Terrorists under E.O. 13224 on January 8, 2013 and remain at large. The U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice program has authorized rewards of up to $5 million each for information leading to the capture of the two fugitives.

In making this designation, the Department seeks to emphasize to the public and, in particular, to the Granville and Abbas families, our commitment to justice prevailing in this case.

ENDS

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