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Tuesday, 4 December 2007, 11:49 GMT

Abducted Mexican singer strangled

Sergio Gomez (centre) with his band K-Paz de la Sierra in August 2007 The lead singer of a well-known Mexican band has been abducted, tortured and strangled to death, officials say.

Sergio Gomez, of the K-Paz de la Sierra band, was seized after a concert in the western state of Michoacan on Sunday.

The motive for the attack is unclear but Michoacan has been the scene of gruesome drug-related violence.

Several musicians have been killed over the year, including performers of the popular "narcocorrido" music whose lyrics centre on drug-trafficking.

Gomez and several others were travelling in a car in the early hours of Sunday after K-Paz de la Sierra's concert in Morelia, Michoacan's capital, when they were kidnapped by armed men.

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The other people were released but Gomez's body was found on Monday on Morelia's outskirts, bearing signs of burns and bruises, police said.

K-Paz de la Sierra, whose members were immigrants to the Chicago area, were one of the best-known bands playing the US and Mexican "Duranguense" music scene, heavy on drums and synthesizers.

Shot in hospital

Gomez was killed hours after another singer, Zayda Pena, was killed in the border city of Matamoros in Tamaulipas state.

Pena, 28, was shot by an unknown assailant in hospital where she was recovering from a previous gunshot wound.

The motive behind her murder is also unknown.

Several of the murders of musicians over the past year are believed to be tied to organised crime and drug-trafficking.

More than 1,000 people have been killed in Mexico this year as drug cartels battle for territory and drug routes.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has deployed troops in several states, including his home state of Michoacan, to try to tackle the violence.



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Related to this story:
Doubts over Bush plan on Mexico drugs (22 Oct 07 |  Americas )
US-Mexico drugs blitz 'success' (04 Oct 07 |  Americas )
Mexico drug gangs 'in web taunts' (14 Feb 07 |  Americas )
Life in jail for Mexico drugs man (18 Sep 07 |  Americas )
Battling Mexico's powerful drugs cartels (13 Feb 07 |  Americas )
Mexico's forbidden songs (03 Oct 04 |  Americas )

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Michoacan state government (in Spanish)
Tamaulipas state government (in Spanish)
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