Case against Mexico mayor dropped

Mayor Manuel Lopez Obrador said he was the victim of a plot

The Mexican government has said it will drop an attempt to prosecute the mayor of Mexico City, clearing the way for his presidential campaign.

The case has sparked a political crisis because Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is the front-runner in next year's poll.

Prosecutors had accused him of contempt of court during a land dispute.

But the attorney general's office said the prosecution had been abandoned because the punishment for such an offence was unclear.

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Throughout the case, the mayor alleged that it was a plot to bar him from running for the presidency.

Thousands of Mexicans rallied in support of the mayor

The news comes less than a week after Mexican President Vicente Fox sacked the previous attorney general, in an attempt to defuse the crisis.

The dismissal followed a rally in support of Mr Lopez Obrador, in one of the biggest marches Mexico has ever seen.

Since he took office in December 2000, Mr Lopez Obrador - who belongs to the left-wing Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) - has become one of the country's most popular politicians.

Most opinion polls suggest he enjoys a clear lead for next year's election.

Mexico's Congress removed his immunity last month and opened the way for his prosecution.

Mr Lopez Obrador was accused of breaching a court order after allowing the construction of an access road to a city hospital said to go through a disputed plot of expropriated land.