October 24, 2014 -- Updated 0408 GMT (1208 HKT)
The former mayor of Iguala is a "probable" suspect in the disappearance
of 43 students who were kidnapped last month from the city in Guerrero
state, Mexican authorities said. FULL STORY
Iguala, Mexico, ex-mayor 'probable' suspect in case of 43 missing students
October 24, 2014 -- Updated 1145 GMT (1945 HKT)
Ex-mayor linked to missing students
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- 43 students intending to protest in Iguala vanished on September 26
- Police say former mayor and his wife are responsible for the disappearance
- Activist priest says the students were shot, bodies burned
Mexican Attorney General
Jesús Murillo Karam said Wednesday his office has issued arrest warrants
for former Iguala Mayor José Luis Abarca; his wife, Maria de los
Ángeles Pineda Villa; and the city's former public safety director,
Felipe Flores Velásquez. Murillo said they are considered "probable
masterminds" of events that occurred in Iguala on September 26.
According to the attorney
general, on that day, a group of students from a teachers college in
the nearby town of Ayotzinapa were on their way to stage a protest in
Iguala. When the former mayor and his wife learned the protest would
disrupt an event led by the mayor's wife, they gave orders to their
public safety director to send police forces to prevent the students
from protesting.
"The order to confront
those people came from the police department's command center, straight
from A-5, code name used to identify the Iguala mayor," Murillo said.
The attorney general also said his office learned this information from
interrogations of police officers and gang members detained in the last
month who were allegedly involved in the incident.
Ex-mayor linked to missing students
Mexico: Where are 43 abducted students?
Photos: Missing Mexican students
Police officers blocked
the highway leading into the city and shot at the students as they
arrived in buses and a van. One student was killed.
Footage from the scene shows a white van left in the middle of the road with its windows blown out and the doors wide open.
The students, Murillo
said, were subsequently taken away by police officers, who handed them
over to a local criminal gang known as Guerreros Unidos (United
Warriors), which had infiltrated not only the police department but was
also complicit with Mayor Abarca, his wife and the public safety
director. All three disappeared the day after the clashes between police
and the students.
It has been almost a
month since the incident and the students are still missing. Fifty-three
people, including 36 officers and 17 suspected gang members, have been
detained.
No one was available for
comment at the Iguala Police Department. The Mexican federal police and
army have taken over the department and assumed all security
responsibilities.
Twenty-eight bodies were found in mass graves in the state of Guerrero, but DNA tests showed there were no missing students among those victims.
Mexico was shocked this
week by the revelations of a Roman Catholic priest and well-known
activist who works with migrants and trafficking victims. The Rev.
Alejandro Solalinde said the students were forced to walk to a remote
location and then shot.
"Some who were wounded
but still alive, with others who were already dead -- one, two, we don't
know how many -- were put on top of firewood and set on fire with
diesel," Solalinde said. He said he has given his information to
prosecutors.
The case has become a
political crisis, with opposition lawmakers asking President Enrique
Peña Nieto to dissolve the entire Guerrero state government and take
charge. Peña Nieto has said his government will not spare any efforts
until the students are found and justice is done.
"Violence, whatever its
origin, goes against what we are as a country. Violence will never be a
solution or pave the way towards a better future," the President said.
Mexican authorities are
offering a reward of nearly $5 million for information leading to
finding the students and solving the case.
Online, international
students are also demanding answers. A video posted on YouTube shows
young people from different countries "demanding justice for the 43
Mexican students who went missing on September 26," in multiple
languages.
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