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Guatemala orders arrest of lawmaker over three slayings

Guatemalan authorities on Thursday ordered the arrest of a congressman suspected of conspiring to kill three Salvadorean politicians and detained the lawmaker's alleged accomplice.

The charred bodies of the three Salvadorean politicians, all members of the Guatemala-based Central American Parliament, and their driver were found along a rural road on Feb. 19. No motive has been determined for the crime.

The lead investigator in the case, prosecutor Alvaro Matus, said an arrest warrant had been issued for Guatemalan Congressman Manuel Castillo. On Wednesday, a court stripped Castillo of his immunity from prosecution. He leaves Congress this month to become mayor of Jutiapa.

Castillo and his lawyers were not available to comment on Thursday. Castillo has repeatedly refused to answer questions about the accusations.

Matus alleged that Castillo has links to Carlos Gutierrez, another suspect in the case who was arrested on Thursday in Jutiapa, near the border with El Salvador.

Gutierrez, a suspected drug trafficker, was in constant telephone communication with the parliamentarians' killers the day of the slayings, Matus said.

Castillo "told us he didn't know [Gutierrez] but we have evidence to the contrary," Matus said.

Two former police detectives have also been detained in the case, and four other detectives linked to the crime were murdered by inmates inside their prison cell just hours after they turned themselves in to authorities.
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