US offers reward in WNYer's murder case

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - The U.S. government is offering a $10 million reward to bring the remaining terrorist killers of South Buffalo-born American diplomat John Granville to justice.

Congressman Brian Higgins is trying to make sure that an American hero is not forgotten. Granville was murdered in Sudan on New Year's Day five years ago.

Terrorists opened fire, killing the 33-year-old and his driver as they left a New Year's party at the British embassy. Those five men, who had ties to Al-Qaeda, were tried, convicted and sentenced to death by the Sudanese Government. But four of them escaped from prison in 2010. Two are still on the run and are believed to be in the Sudan.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of State's Reward for Justice Program announced rewards of up to $5 million each for the capture of Granville's fugitive killers, Abdelbasit Alhaj Alhassan Haj Hamad and Mohamed Makawi Ibrahim Mohamed.

Congressman Higgins believes the pursuit of the terrorists could come to an end soon, but the reward is an extra incentive.

"You need all the help you can get. So my sense is as they zero in on these two individuals who escaped from prison in Somalia working with an Al-Qaeda affiliate, my hope is this reward will give incentive for the local population to assist law enforcement agencies to recapture these two individuals," Congressman Higgins said.

The Canisius High School graduate was working to bring hundreds of thousands of solar-powered radios to the Sudanese people, giving millions contact to the outside world for the first time.

Reward for Justice was created in 1984. In that time, the group has paid out $125 million to help capture 80 people responsible for terrorist activities.

The State Department also declared the two fugitives as global terrorists, blocking any assets they have in the U.S. and banning Americans from doing business with them.