Award-winning reporter shot dead in Mexico
Mexico City : An award-winning local journalist and Agence France-Presse contributor who reported on violent drug gangs in Mexico was shot dead in the street Monday, a court source told AFP.
Javier Valdez, 50, was shot near the premises of Riodoce, a Mexican news weekly he founded, in his hometown of Culiacan in northwestern Sinaloa state, the source said.
Valdez was the fifth journalist killed this year in a country plagued by drug violence and corruption, according to officials and media rights groups.
"We are horrified by this tragedy and send our condolences to Javier's family and those close to him," said AFP's global news director Michele Leridon.
"We call on the Mexican authorities to shed all possible light on this cowardly murder," she added.
"Javier showed extreme courage by spending years investigating the powerful drug cartels in Mexico, knowing that he was risking his life in doing so."
President Enrique Pena Nieto said on Twitter that he had ordered an "investigation of this outrageous crime."
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