Journalist found dead in northern Mexico

Nov 3, 2009, 14:48 GMT

   Mexico City - A journalist who covered crime was found dead in northern Mexico, about 10 hours after he was kidnapped at gunpoint, the Durango state Attorney General's office said.

The body of Bladimir Antuna, 39, was found late Monday a short distance away from where he had been kidnapped in the city of Durango, about 900 kilometres northwest of Mexico City.

   Antuna, who worked for the daily El Tiempo de Durango, had been shot.

A total of nine journalists have been killed so far this year in Mexico, including three in the state of Durango.

Antuna had been kidnapped around 10 am Monday. According to witnesses, he had been travelling in a van when two vehicles blocked the way for him.

The authorities said they found a message by the body, although they gave no information as to possible suspects.

Antuna had survived a murder attempt as he left his home on April 28, and he had filed complaints over telephone death threats.

Two other Durango journalists were murdered in May. The authorities blame at least one of those deaths on the drug cartel Los Zetas. The prime suspect in that killing, Israel Sanchez Jaimes, is under arrest and has claimed that the gang wanted to teach the region's journalists a lesson.