U.S. RESCINDS ITS WARNING FOR AMERICANS IN MEXICO

MEXICO CITY-The U.S. State Department said Wednesday it has rescinded
a warning that U.S. government officials and citizens could be
targeted by Mexican drug cartels in three of the country's states.

State Department Spokesman Michael Toner said, "we thought it was
credible information, and then it was later deemed that it was not
credible enough to warrant it remaining on the website."

The warning, the first indicating Americans were being targeted by
drug traffickers, said U.S. officials had "uncorroborated information
that Mexican criminal gangs may intend to attack U.S. law-enforcement
officers or U.S. citizens in the near future in Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon
and San Luis Potosi" states. Among the cities affected by the warning
was Monterrey, the country's northern business hub.

The reversal of the warning didn't appear to have filtered down to all
officials yet. On Wednesday, an official at the State Department hot
line said the warning was still in place and a Spanish-language
version of the website still contained the warning in English.

Mexican officials didn't comment on the warning or its reversal, which
came amid friction between Washington and Mexico City over the drug
war. U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual resigned under pressure
this year after comments he made about the Mexican military in cables
published by WikiLeaks that angered President Felipe Calderon.

Last year, 107 American citizens were victims of homicide in Mexico,
according to the State Department, a rise from 2009, when 77 were killed.

Among this year's victims in Mexico's north was Nancy Davis, a
missionary who was shot after being ambushed in her car in Tamaulipas.
Last week, authorities said they had discovered mass graves on a
Tamaulipas ranch and the body count reached 126 as officials continued
to search there. Mexican officials have said among the dead were
passengers from a bus stopped by the Los Zetas drug gang. A warden's
message that remains on the website says an American was pulled from a
bus in Tamaulipas, but it was unknown if he was among the dead.