MISSING MEXICAN GOVERNOR FEARS UNFAIR TRIAL-LAWYER

MEXICO CITY, - A Mexican governor under
investigation for drug trafficking who disappeared six days ago fears
he will be arrested and subjected to an unfair trial, his lawyer told
a newspaper in a report published on Thursday.

Gov. Mario Villanueva of Quintana Roo, the Caribbean state that
includes the famous resort Cancun, went missing on Saturday and has
failed to show up for scheduled questioning by Mexico's top anti-drug
authorities.

Villanueva's six-year term as governor is due to end on Monday, when
his criminal immunity would run out. The Attorney General's Office has
said it cannot issue an arrest warrant against him until then.

"He didn't tell me that he would flee, but yes, there was a
well-founded fear that once he no longer had immunity he would be
arrested without any legal protection," defence lawyer Raul Cardenas
was quoted as saying in Thursday's edition of Reforma newspaper.

"He felt that he could not get a fair trial," the lawyer
said.

Officials say openly that Villanueva of the ruling Institutional
Revolutionary Party (PRI) is under investigation for suspected ties to
the illegal narcotics trade. His state has a long and deserted
coastline near the midpoint of a straight line between Colombia to
the United States.

The Washington Post on Thursday reported that the United States,
Mexico and other countries are investigating bank accounts in the
names of Villanueva, family members and friends that allegedly
contain millions of dollars, including a Swiss account with $73
million in his name.

While steadfastly maintaining his innocence, the governor revealed
last month that he is specifically accused of allowing drug
traffickers to use a state-owned airplane hangar to load and unload
drugs, of maintaining close ties with drug lords and of being a
cocaine user himself.

Gov.-elect Joaquin Hendricks, also of the PRI, won the Feb. 21 state
election and was due to be sworn in on Monday. Hendricks told
reporters that the Quintana Roo secretary of state, Raul Santana,
would be in charge until then as long as Villanueva is missing.

"The secretary of state is responsible for the governor's office, so
there is no power vacuum in Quintana Roo," said Hendricks, adding that
his own search to locate Villanueva has been fruitless.

The Attorney General's Office said late on Wednesday that it had
summoned Villanueva one more time, setting a date for Saturday, even
through the governor has skipped three previous appointments.

The first of those was for last Saturday in Mexico City. Villanueva
failed to show and has not been heard from publicly since.