Mexico requests investigation

The authorities in Mexico have asked the US State Department to investigate the death of a Mexican last Sunday in Arizona.

The Mexican Foreign Ministry said in a diplomatic message that the death of Juan Pinacho appeared to be due to an excessive use of force by US border agents.

Mr Pinacho was shot three times by a border patrol.

The US authorities said Mr Pinacho had died after he took an agent's weapon during a struggle and a second agent shot him.

The Mexican authorities said more than four-hundred Mexicans have been killed this year while attempting to enter the United States illegally. The authorities say an estimated three-hundred-thousand Mexicans try to cross the border annually

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service