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PHOTOGRAPHER KILLED

On 27 November 2004, Mexican photographer Gregorio Rodríguez was gunned down in the northwestern state of Sinaloa, reports the World Association of Newspapers (WAN).

A photographer for the newspaper "El Debate," Rodríguez was dining with his family at a restaurant in Escuinapa when unidentified gunmen entered the establishment and shot him five times. He died instantly. No arrests have been made and police have yet to confirm a motive.

The murder comes two weeks after reporters from "El Debate" were threatened by a local politician in the town of Guasave, who urged his supporters to attack the journalists, reports the Inter American Press Association (IAPA).

Resina Avila and Alonso Sánchez had written articles claiming that the politician, Sául Rubio Ayala, had attended the funeral of a well-known drug trafficker from Sinaloa. Rubio Ayala did not deny the claim, which was subsequently used by political opponents to criticise him in a recent election campaign.

Visit:

- WAN alert: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/62911/
- IAPA: http://www.sipiapa.org/pressreleases/chronologicaldetail.cfm?PressReleaseID=1254
- Background on Press Freedom in Mexico: http://www.sipiapa.org/pulications/report_mexico2004o.cfm
- Drug War Claims Journalists' Lives: http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2004/tijuana/tijuana.html