Nicaragua ministers lose immunity

Members of Enrique Bolanos' own party have turned against him

Nicaragua's congress has stripped two ministers of their legal immunity so they can be investigated for alleged campaign funding irregularities.

Interior Minister Julio Vega and junior minister Mario Salvo Horvilleur are the first that the opposition-controlled Congress has taken action against.

The move is the latest in a power struggle between President Enrique Bolanos and his opponents.

Mr Bolanos and several other officials could also see their immunity removed.

Mr Bolanos said on Thursday that the Organization of American States was alarmed by the further deterioration in Nicaragua's political crisis and would send a mediation mission.

He has said in the past that he will view any attempts to strip him of legal immunity as a coup.

Earlier this month, a senior US official warned that Nicaragua would face isolation if opposition forces deposed the president.

Mr Bolanos took office in 2002 after a landslide victory over Sandinista leader and former President Daniel Ortega.

But members of his own Liberal Party turned against him - and joined forces with the Sandinistas - after his government decided to prosecute former President Arnoldo Aleman for corruption.

Aleman has been convicted of fraud and money-laundering, but he still commands the loyalty of many of his party's legislators.