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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Suspects Held in Deadly Honduras Attack |
| 2004-12-26 |
| Authorities on Saturday announced the arrest of two additional suspects in an attack on bus that killed 28 passengers and wounded 14, while thousands of soldiers searched for more of the gunmen and families buried the victims. Six children and 22 adults died Thursday when suspected gang members wielding assault rifles cornered a city bus in the San Pedro Sula suburb of Chamelecon, 125 miles north of the capital, Tegucigalpa, and sprayed it with gunfire. The attack on a busload of commuters and Christmas shoppers stunned a country known for lawlessness and has made the government's anti-crime campaign resemble an open war between street gangs and authorities. Services for the victims were held under sunny skies on Christmas Day, as about 2,000 soldiers combed the slums and outskirts of San Pedro Sula for those responsible. Suspected gang member Alexis Ramirez, 23, was arrested in San Pedro shortly after the attack while driving a car containing two assault rifles, two pistols and ammunition, officials said. Authorities said Saturday that two suspected gang members arrested in Cofradia, about 10 miles east of San Pedro, have been linked to the attack. "We are not revealing more details for the moment to avoid interfering with the investigations," said Honduran Security Minister Oscar Alvarez. "But we have concrete leads that soon with clear up the killings." Deputy Police Commissioner Wilmer Torres said Ramirez is a member of the Mara Salvatrucha, a ruthless youth gang known for committing shock killings, and that the car he drove resembled a car at the scene of the attack. In a message left on the bus' windshield Thursday, the gunmen said they were part of a revolutionary group opposed to the death penalty, one of the main campaign issues in next year's presidential campaign. The message also threatened congressional President Porfirio Lobo Sosa, a death penalty supporter and one of four contenders for the ruling National Party's 2005 presidential nomination. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Maybe they're lobbying for the "Death by Torture" campaign. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2004-12-26 1:02:17 PM |
#1 the gunmen said they were part of a revolutionary group opposed to the death penaltySo they killed 28 innocent people. Talk about "unclear on the concept".... |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-12-26 12:13:48 PM |