By Michael Stott

MEXICO CITY, Nov 27 (Reuters) Gunmen shot and seriously wounded the
editor of a crusading news magazine in the northern Mexican drug city of
Tijuana on Thursday, the magazine said.

Jesus Blancornelas, editor of the weekly Zeta, was hit by three bullets in
the morning attack and rushed to Tijuana's Prado hospital for emergency
surgery, hospital staff said.

Zeta had won plaudits for its investigative reporting on a big political
assassination and on drug trafficking in Tijuana, a city that is home to
Mexico's most murderous drugs cartel.

Blancornelas's bodyguard was killed when gunmen sprayed the Ford Explorer
car in which he was travelling with more than 50 bullets, peppering the
windshield and the bodywork with holes. One of the attackers was killed in
the attack. Television pictures showed the dead man crouched against a
street fence, still clutching a shotgun and with blood in a pool around him.

There was confusion about Blancornelas's condition. Televisa television
network said he was in ``critical'' condition and fighting for his life.
Hospital reports gave his condition as stable.

Staff at Zeta confirmed the attack and criticized Baja California State
Governor Hector Teran Teran for withdrawing guards from Blancornelas before
the assassination attempt.

``We directly blame the Governor of the State for negligence in withdrawing
the guard and for the action of putting him in danger with his enemies
through the irresponsible attitude of his (state chief) Prosecutor,'' the
staff said in a statement.

Tijuana, home to Mexico's most violent cocaine cartel run by the Arellano
Felix brothers, has seen dozens of drug assassinations in recent years.
Security sources said initial suspicion was on the drug mob.

Opposition deputy Jorge Esparza, a journalist who once worked with
Blancornelas, told Reuters that violence in Tijuana was out of control and
demanded that authorities investigate.

``Blancornelas got very deeply into delicate subjects, particularly drug
trafficking,'' he said.

Human rights groups say that Mexico is rapidly becoming one of the region's
most dangerous countries for the media, with 18 journalists murdered in the
past eight years.

In July, Benjamin Flores Gonzalez, director of La Prensa newspaper in
northern Sonora state was shot at close range outside his office after
writing about links between officials and drug gangs.

Felipe Calderon Hinojosa, leader of the conservative opposition National
Action Party (PAN), condemned the latest shooting and told reporters: ``The
problem of insecurity (in Mexico) is now completely beyond the capacity of
the entire state and the entire Mexican apparatus to control.''

Blancornelas's magazine had won a national prize for its investigative
reporting in Tijuana and earlier this year Blancornelas himself was
honoured with an award in New York.

The most recent issue of Zeta carried a story by Blancornelas entitled
``C.H. and 'The Shark' Under Suspicion, Trained in Israel, Drug Commandos
Killed Federal Police.''

The story told how drug gunmen shot nad killed two army antidrugs agents
in a commandostyle hit. After the first gunman killed the two agents in a
hail of bullets, a second car drew up and sprayed the corpses with more
gunfire for good measure, the magazine said.

It said the gunmen were working for the Arellano Felix brothers and had
been trained in commando tactics in Israel.

Blancornelas also won fame for his detailed investigation of the 1994
murder near Tijuana of ruling party presidential candidate Luis Donaldo
Colosio a case that many Mexicans believe involved a highlevel
government conspiracy.

Last week Blancornelas published a book about the case.