The chief Sudanese investigator in the slaying of an American diplomat in Khartoum testified Thursday that the five suspects on trial also planned to kill a British diplomat in Sudan.
Police Gen. Abdul Rahim Ahmed Abdullah told the court in Khartoum that the five plotted against an unnamed British diplomat in revenge for the "Teddy Bear" case of British schoolteacher Gillian Gibbons _ a case that had last year enraged Sudan's Islamists.
But on the day they were to execute their plot, the British diplomat escaped unharmed when he happened to disappear into a crowd, the police investigator said.
The five suspects are charged with the killing of American diplomat John Granville, 33, and his Sudanese driver in the early hours of New Year's Day on the streets of Khartoum.
The brazen shooting _ the first time an American was killed in Sudan since 1973 _ caused jitters among the foreign community in Sudan.
In a previous court hearing, the prosecution said the five acted out of religious zeal and that they were looking for any Western target during New Year's celebrations.
Granville was being driven home at about 4 a.m. when another vehicle cut off his car and opened fire before fleeing the scene. His driver was immediately killed. Granville, who was hit by five bullets, initially survived, before succumbing to his wounds after surgery.
In his testimony Thursday, the chief investigator said the defendants had studied the housing areas of Americans in Sudan. The accused include former Sudanese Amy officer, Muhanad Osman Yusuf, 29, who was in active service at the time of Granville's slaying.
Yusuf was dismissed after he was implicated in the case.
Abdullah, the chief investigator, also testified that the defendants had initially planned to go to Somalia to wage jihad or holy war there, but changed their minds, opting to stay and "work in Sudan" after they received 35,000 Saudi riyals, or US$9,300, from a Saudi fundraiser for Somali Mujahedeen.
The hearing Thursday took place under heavy security after the court was relocated to a northern Khartoum neighborhood.
The five suspects have denied confessions they said were given to investigators under coercion and bullying.
The trial continues Sept. 21.
Last year, British schoolteacher Gibbons' case also shocked Sudan and Westerners living here. Gibbons was sentenced to 15 days in jail for allowing her pupils to call a teddy bear Muhammad _ an act clerics consider insulting to the Prophet Muhammad _ but was later pardoned and allowed to return home to Britain.
