U.S. Resident Could Face Death Penalty in Sudan

I spoke with Nancy Williams Dawod, whose husband, Rudwan Dawod, could face the death penalty in Sudan. He's a permanent U.S. resident and in a Sudanese jail facing charges including involvement in a terrorist organization.

I met Rudwan a few years ago via the non-profit Sudan Sunrise. He's worked with the organization to build schools and churches in his home country. (An organization I have also supported.)

Nancy and Rudwan met in Africa, on the first day of her first trip to the continent. And I asked her to respond to the accusation that her husband is involved in a terror group.

Watch the interview here:

As I mentioned in the interview the Sudanese Embassy released a statement to ABC News. The embassy would not speak about Rudwan's case, but did comment on the protests in Sudan. Here is the full statement from Seif Yasin, the Press and Information Counselor at the Embassy:

"Concerning the sporadic protests witnessed in the country, it is important to note first that Sudan affirms and protects the right of the citizens to demonstrate as they wish, provided that the rules and regulations in place are observed, as they are principally meant to ensure public order and safety.

It is during this delicate process of facilitating self-expression and maintaining public order on which some opportunists capitalize to inspire violence and chaos or smear Sudan's image. Fair observers will note how easily things can get out of hand in such settings if the laws that regulate such an affair are not adhered to, be it in Sudan or the United States. The world has witnessed plenty of such disasters. Occupy wall Street protests are a case in point, where numerous arrests were made by the New York Police. While we cannot comment on any one specific case, if any arrests do occur in Sudan, the detained individuals will most certainly have a fair and just trial in court.

Moreover, these protests, though by no means comparable to the ones elsewhere in the world might very well reflect the genuine grievances of a few, relating to economy and job opportunities. And indeed the Government recognizes this and has been aggressively moving to tackle these same economic adversities that the entire world is today challenged with. But in this process, order must prevail, not chaos."

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Four arrested over Ivory Coast U.N. peacekeeper killings

LONDON (Reuters) - Four men have been arrested in connection with the ambush killings in Ivory Coast of seven U.N. peacekeepers on its border with Liberia, Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said on Friday.

An adviser to Ouattara said the four had been arrested in Liberia and would be extradited to Ivory Coast to stand trial.

The seven United Nations peacekeepers, all from Niger, were killed on June 8 when their patrol came under fire near the town of Tai, close to the porous border, in what Ivorian authorities said was a cross-border raid.

"We have just arrested four people who perpetrated that attack and killed the seven peacekeepers," President Alassane Ouattara said during a visit to London, where he was planning to watch the Olympics opening ceremony.

He said those arrested included "the head of the operation", but gave no further information as to the identities or nationalities of the four men.

Liberian government officials said they were not immediately able to comment on Ouattara's remarks while Ivory Coast's U.N. mission, UNOCI, said it was not aware of any arrests.

A decade of north-south partition and simmering political crisis in the world's top cocoa grower ended last year with a brief but brutal civil war that erupted after former President Laurent Gbagbo refused to acknowledge defeat in 2010 polls.

Around 3,000 died before Gbagbo was captured by troops loyal to Ouattara, who were backed by French and U.N. forces. Gbagbo is in The Hague awaiting trial before the International Criminal Court accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

RIVAL SUPPORTERS

Chanting supporters and opponents of Ouattara gathered outside the venue where he spoke but were kept apart by police barriers.

Ouattara said a national commission of enquiry had completed an investigation on July 18 into crimes committed by the two warring factions during the conflict, but said he had not yet seen its findings.

"When the battle started you had atrocities committed, probably by both sides," he said. "But this needs an enquiry, that's why we set up the National Enquiry Commission...when I go back I will have the report."

The U.N. Security Council renewed UNOCI's mandate on Thursday, reducing its military force by one battalion, or around 700 to 1,000 soldiers, to just under 9,000 troops.

(Additional reporting by Alistair Smout, Joe Bavier in Abidjan, and Alphonso Toweh in Monrovia; Editing by Michael Roddy)

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APNewsBreak: Vegas DUI case led to German fugitive

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A fingerprint match in a Las Vegas-area drunken driving case led U.S. authorities to a German fugitive in a $100 million international fraud scheme who had been on the run for five years, authorities said Friday.

U.S. marshals recently learned that a fingerprint from a 51-year-old man arrested in February 2011 belonged to Ulrich Felix Anton Engler, and they joined Las Vegas police financial crimes detectives to locate and arrest him late Wednesday, Las Vegas police Officer Bill Cassell said.

Engler, who is accused of also using the names Joseph Miller and Joseph Walter, was being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on an immigration violation, pending his transfer to Germany, ICE spokeswoman Nicole Navas said.

FBI agents and local police on Friday began tracing Engler's steps in southern Nevada, finding more than 1,000 pieces of artwork at a storage facility he rented in Boulder City, about 25 miles east of Las Vegas.

"We're investigating what, if any, criminal activity Mr. Engler might have been involved with in Las Vegas," Cassell said. "This individual used multiple identities and was accomplished at concealing his true identity."

FBI agent Patrick Turner in Las Vegas said the warrant search at the storage facility was an effort to recover proceeds on behalf of alleged fraud victims.

A local court in Mannheim and Hamburg, Germany, issued a warrant in December 2007 accusing Engler of multiple criminal fraud charges, according to an ICE statement. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

Engler had also been named in a March 2010 notice from the international police agency Interpol.

He is accused of using a marketing company called Private Commercial Office in Cape Coral, Fla., to build an Internet pyramid scheme. From June 2003 to December 2004, it collected almost $101 million from more than 3,500 investors in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, authorities said. Once the money reached the United States, investors lost access to it.

When the arrest warrant was issued in Germany, Engler was believed to have been living in Florida.

Last year, U.S. marshals and Interpol officials in Washington determined Engler was living in Nevada under the name Joseph Miller.

Records show that a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper issued Engler a summons on Feb. 11, 2011, for failure to drive in a marked lane and driving under the influence of alcohol. The disposition of the DUI case could not immediately be determined Friday.

It was not immediately clear what name Engler used at the time or whether he was represented by an attorney.

ICE Director John Morton called Engler's capture after five years "a welcome day and an important step" toward providing his victims a measure of relief and justice in Germany.

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CYCLING ACTIVISTS ARRESTED

Some cycling activists scuffled with police officers during the Olympics opening ceremony and more than 100 people were arrested, authorities said.

The cyclists were members of a monthly cycling event called "Critical Mass" that normally passes through the area, but a police order had prohibited the group from traveling into the Olympic Park area in east London during Friday night's opening ceremony.

Dozens of cyclists were blocked by police vans from proceeding, Scotland Yard said.

Two groups of protesters were arrested on suspicion of breaching protest conditions and causing a public nuisance, Scotland Yard said.

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Ark. man sentenced to death in officer's death

PARAGOULD, Ark. (AP) — A judge has sentenced an Arkansas man to death for killing a police officer who was pleading for his life.

Prosecutor Scott Ellington says a Greene County judge on Saturday read the sentence for 38-year-old Jerry Lard. The jury had recommended the death sentence.

Lard was convicted of capital murder Thursday for killing Trumann police officer Jonathan Schmidt during an April 2011 traffic stop.

Lard's attorneys didn't dispute that Lard shot Schmidt, but they argued that he has a mental illness or defect.

Lard becomes the 38th death row inmate in Arkansas. The state hasn't been carrying out executions because the Arkansas Supreme Court struck down its lethal injection law earlier this year.

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Information from: The Jonesboro Sun, http://www.jonesborosun.com

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Colorado shooting suspect was seeing psychiatrist: court filing

(Reuters) - The man accused of killing 12 people and wounding 58 others in a shooting rampage at Denver-area movie theater last week was under the care of a psychiatrist, court papers released on Friday said.

The information came in a filing to the Arapahoe County District Court from defense attorneys for James Holmes, the 24-year-old former graduate student who police say opened fire last Friday on a packed showing of movie "The Dark Knight Rises."

The attorneys were seeking the contents of a package Holmes sent to Dr. Lynne Fenton.

"Mr. Holmes was a psychiatric patient of Dr. Fenton, and his communications with her are protected," the filing said.

(Reporting By Dan Burns; Editing by Will Dunham)

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Arkansas man sentenced to death in officer's death

PARAGOULD, Ark. (AP) — An Arkansas man who shot a police officer during a traffic stop last year, then coldly shot him in the face while he was pleading for his life, was sentenced to death on Saturday.

Jerry Lard was convicted Thursday of capital murder, and a Greene County judge agreed with the jury that the 38-year-old should die for killing Trumann police officer Jonathan Schmidt in April 2011.

Lard's attorney, Katherine Streett, said the case will be automatically appealed and that she doesn't comment on ongoing cases.

Prosecutor Scott Ellington, in a statement, said seeking the death sentence always involves a lot of thought and prayer, but that he saw no other option in the case of Lard, who also fired on but missed Schmidt's partner, Sgt. Corey Overstreet, during the confrontation.

"The jury echoed the commitment of the community to protect those who protect us. I am very proud of their courage and fortitude. I know it wasn't an easy decision, but it is one that had to be made," Ellington said.

Lard's attorneys didn't deny that he killed Schmidt, who left behind a wife and children, but they say Lard was mentally ill or deficient and should be spared execution.

Overstreet testified that he showed up as backup last year after Schmidt pulled over a car in which Lard was a passenger.

At one point, Schmidt asked Lard his name and birthday and radioed the information back. Schmidt walked to Lard's side of the car.

"When he opened the door, a hand reached out and started shooting Jonathan," Overstreet said.

Overstreet went to reach for his gun, but he said Lard pointed his weapon at him, so he scrambled between the vehicles. He heard gunshots.

Video taken the night of the shooting from dashboard cameras in the police cars showed Schmidt helping Overstreet back onto his feet after he fell, The Jonesboro Sun reported.

Lard swore and shot at Schmidt, who said, "Please, don't shoot me again."

A medical examiner told the jury Schmidt was shot four times, in the chin, neck, right wrist and chest, though a protective vest blocked that shot.

Lard becomes the 38th death row inmate in Arkansas. The state hasn't been carrying out executions because the Arkansas Supreme Court struck down its lethal injection law earlier this year.

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Information from: The Jonesboro Sun, http://www.jonesborosun.com

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