Five held over Venezuela killings

(L-R) Kevin, John and Jason Faddoul were kidnapped in February

Five people have been charged in connection with the kidnappings and murder of three brothers in Venezuela.

Justice Minister Jesse Chacon said the suspects were Venezuelan gang members.

Jason, Kevin and John Faddoul - aged 12, 13 and 17 respectively - were taken while being driven to school in February. Their driver was also killed.

The discovery of their bodies more than a month later sparked mass protests in the capital, Caracas, by crowds demanding justice.

The brothers, who grew up in Venezuela, held dual Canadian-Venezuelan nationality.

They were kidnapped along with their driver, Miguel Ribas, on 23 February. The bodies of the four were found earlier this week, about 50km (30 miles) outside Caracas.

A farmer found the boys' bodies in scrubland outside the city, with gunshot wounds to the neck and head.

Mr Chacon said on Friday police had also found the weapon used to kill them.

Photographer shot

The Faddoul boys' kidnappers had demanded the parents pay a ransom of $4.5m. (£2.6m). The family's lawyer said it had been too much to pay.

After the bodies were discovered, protesters took to the streets in anger, bringing Caracas traffic to a standstill.

In the Caracas neighbourhood where the brothers grew up, residents set up road blocks to express anger and sorrow over the killings.

A news photographer covering the demonstrations, Jorge Aguirre, was shot dead by an unknown gunman while covering one of the protests.