US diplomat shot in Sudan attack

[Eugene]

Source: BBC News

Last Updated: Tuesday, 1 January 2008, 10:30 GMT

US diplomat shot in Sudan attack

A US diplomat was wounded and his Sudanese driver
killed in a shooting incident in the capital of Sudan,
Khartoum, reports say.

The Sudanese driver was killed on the spot and the US
official critically injured as they were heading home.

The attack happened during the early hours on Tuesday
in a main street of the capital.

It is not yet clear whether the attack was politically
motivated, as crime is fairly high in the city.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7166645.stm

[xchrom]

1. fairly high? i nominate that as the understatement for 08. nt

[DeSwiss]

2. **UPDATE** US diplomat dies in Sudan attack

US diplomat dies in Sudan attack

BBC NEWS
Tuesday, 1 January 2008, 13:34 GMT

A US diplomat in Sudan has died of his injuries following a shooting in the capital, Khartoum, US officials say.

The man's Sudanese driver was killed on the spot during the attack in the early hours of Tuesday.

Sudan's interior ministry said the embassy vehicle was fired on by gunmen in another car as it drove through a residential area of western Khartoum.

It is not yet clear whether the attack was politically motivated, as crime is fairly high in the city.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7166902.stm

[Demeter]

4. Get A Load of THIS Statement From Our Diplomatic Personnel:

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - A U.S. government aid official who was critically wounded in a shooting attack on his vehicle in Khartoum on Tuesday has died, a U.S. embassy official said.

"Unfortunately, he just died," a public diplomacy officer at the U.S. embassy in Khartoum told Reuters. The vehicle's Sudanese driver was also killed in the attack.


NO WONDER WE'RE LOSING HEARTS AND MINDS WORLD-WIDE. NOR IS THE OFFICIAL IDENTIFIED. SOMETHING SMELLS TO HIGH HEAVEN.

[Buzz Clik]

3. Here we go...

[Igel]

5. Nice to have consistency ... ?

BBC: "It is not yet clear whether the attack was politically
motivated, as crime is fairly high in the city."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/02/world/africa/02sudan.html?ref=world
"Khartoum is considered one of the safest big cities in Africa. Violent crime, especially with guns, is rare."

Now, they both could be accurate: violent crime low, property crime and theft high.

Then again, the BBC conveniently left out that the British Embassy was involved:

NYT: "An American diplomat in Sudan was shot and killed early Tuesday as he was coming home from a New Year’s Eve party at the British Embassy in Khartoum, the capital, Western officials said. His driver, a Sudanese employee of the American Embassy, was shot and killed next to him."