FOURTH MAYOR IN MEXICO IS KILLED

MEXICO CITY-A Mexican mayor was killed in the fourth such fatal attack
since August, and another one was shot hours later, in a pair of
attacks underlining escalating violence against the country's
politicians.

Prisciliano Rodriguez, mayor of the town of Doctor Gonzalez, was
ambushed by gunmen and killed as he was arriving at his ranch late
Thursday in his SUV, the attorney general's office in Nuevo Leon state
said.

Hours later Ricardo Solis, the mayor-elect of the town of Gran Morelos
in nearby Chihuahua state, was shot as well, according to a government
spokesman. Mr. Solis was in critical condition in a hospital Friday
evening. There were no details on why he was attacked, though the two
shootings appear unrelated.

The attacks marked the latest in a string of violence targeting local
mayors in Mexico, highlighting the government's inability to protect
its own political establishment.

There was some disagreement on the motive of Mr. Rodriguez's killing.
Early Friday, President Felipe Calderon said his government would make
no truce with criminals"and offered condolences to the mayor's family.
But a top official in the state government said early investigations
had determined the crime wasn't linked to organized crime. The killing
had to do with a conflict over land, the official said.

Last month, the body of Edelmiro Cavazos, mayor of the nearby tourist
town of Santiago, was found dumped beside a highway with signs of
torture. A group of police officers was later arrested for allegedly
helping to assassinate Mr. Cavazos.

On Aug. 29, gunmen attacked Mayor Marco Antonio Leal Garcia in the
town of Hidalgo in northern Tamaulipas. The killing was followed on
Sept. 8 by the assassination of Alexander Lopez Garcia, mayor of a
town in the central state of San Luis Potosi.

Thursday's violence highlights the perilous situation in Monterrey in
particular. The city, once known as "The Sultan of the North" for its
immense industrial wealth, is now the site of rising kidnappings and
extortions. A shootout near an elite school in the city recently
killed two bodyguards.

Many longtime business executives have fled to the U.S. or Mexico
City. Late last month, the U.S. State Department ordered the children
of diplomatic personnel out of the Monterrey consulate, a policy
typically reserved for postings like Sudan and Yemen.

Violence flared elsewhere in Mexico. Authorities said a shootout
between suspected gunmen from rival gangs Thursday left seven dead in
Acapulco, the resort city that has been increasingly marred by clashes
between drug gangs. Five local police officers were arrested in
connection to the shooting.

The decapitated bodies of two men were found nearby the previous
day.

Since Mr. Calderon escalated fighting against the country's crime
groups in 2006, more than 28,000 people have been killed in
drug-related violence.