Mexican authorities have arrested 27 high-ranking officials suspected of collaborating with drug-trafficking gangs in the state of Michoacan.

They include 10 mayors, a judge and an aide to the governor of Michoacan.

The arrests come days after police detained several suspected members of the cartel, known as La Familia, which controls drug trafficking in the state.

President Felipe Calderon chose Michoacan state to launch his military offensive against the cartels in 2006.

Last year, the authorities arrested several high-ranking officials – including Mexico’s former drugs czar – in connection with alleged links to the drug cartels.

But the latest of wave of arrests marks the first time the government has gone after such a large group of mayors.

Among those detained was the mayor of Uruapan, which made headlines early in the drug war in 2006 when hitmen dumped five human heads on the dance floor of a bar.

Local media report that among those held was Citlalli Fernandez, the state’s former security chief who is currently employed as an adviser to the governor, Leonel Godoy.

The drugs trade in Michoacan is controlled by the La Familia cartel – considered to be one of the most violent drug gangs in Mexico.

President Calderon launched his nationwide crackdown on organised crime in 2006.

Since then, tens of thousands of troops have been deployed throughout the country to tackle the drugs-related violence which has claimed the lives of close to 9,000 people in the last two years.

Public prosecutor Ujwal Nikam said he will soon be in discussions with officials to decide what should happen with the bodies.

The burial issue has stoked controversy. Groups such as the Indian Muslim Council don’t want the people buried in Muslim cemeteries because they have defamed the religion. Other Muslims have disagreed, saying burial should be available for any Muslim.

John O. Voll — professor of Islamic history and associate director of the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University in Washington — said the Abrahamic religious traditions, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam, have very often set restrictions on grounds they have sanctified for burials. One stricture, for example, has been prohibiting burial of a person from another faith.

“The non-burial” of the suspected terrorists “is making the statement that they are acting so contrary to Islam they are not acting as Muslims and therefore they are judged as being unbelievers and not worthy of being buried in a Muslim cemetery,” Voll said.

India, which has a population of over 1.1 billion people, is 81 percent Hindu, 13 percent Muslim, and 2 percent Christian, according to data from the World Almanac.

One surprising aspect about the burial issue, Voll said, is that the Indian Muslim community is usually not very proactive publicly and tries to avoid publicity.

“In this particular case, it’s very important for the Indian Muslim community to make it clear that they have nothing to do with the people who claim to be Muslims who engaged in terrorism in Mumbai,” Voll said.

Nikam is prosecuting a case against Mohammed Ajmal Kasab the 10th suspected Pakistani terrorist.

Police say the 10 men gunned down more than 160 people in the November attack on Mumbai, India’s financial capital.

The attack went on for four nights and three days including the siege of three luxury hotels and a Jewish center.

Police say Kasab is the only suspected gunman caught alive. The alleged actions of the nine suspects who were killed in the attacks will likely play a role as the prosecution builds its case against Kasab.

After months of delays due to security concerns and difficulty finding an attorney to defend Kasab, his trial finally got under way Friday. Kasab is being charged with 12 criminal counts including murder, attempted murder and waging war against India.

Police say he was caught on a surveillance camera holding a gun as he stalked and killed people inside Mumbai’s main train station, formerly known as Victoria Terminus. Kasab is also accused of shooting people at Mumbai’s Cama hospital.

Kasab’s newly court-appointed defense attorney, Abbas Kazmi, argued that Kasab was under age and should be tried in Juvenile Court, but Judge M.L. Tahilyani disagreed saying Kasab was more than 20 years old and could not be considered a juvenile.

In his opening statements Nikam read from Kasab’s alleged confession on how he trained for the attacks. The terror attack was in order to capture Kashmir, Nikam said.

Grieving families were joined by tens of thousands of sympathisers at Liverpool Football Club’s Anfield ground in north-west England to remember the victims of Britain’s worst sporting disaster.

But a Government minister’s speech was interrupted by chants from people angry that no-one has been brought to account for the disaster.

The tragedy was caused by massive overcrowding in the Leppings Lane end of Sheffield’s Hillsborough stadium at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

To ease overcrowding outside the Leppings Lane end, police opened an exit gate, allowing supporters to flood into the central pens.

For relatives, survivors and those present on the day, the anniversary has revived the heartache of the tragedy, in which helpless fans, fenced in on the terraces, were crushed to death.

The Anfield service mixed sadness and remembrance with calls for justice and anger that nobody has been convicted over the disaster.

People fell silent for two minutes across Liverpool, outside Hillsborough and in Nottingham’s main square at 3:06pm (local time), exactly 20 years on from the moment the match was abandoned as the scale of the horror began to unfold.

At Anfield, the names of the dead were read out, with a sombre bell tolling and a candle lit for each one.

Liverpool players past and present were among the congregation and messages of sympathy from Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Gordon Brown were conveyed.

“We will never forget what happened at Hillsborough 20 years ago,” said the city’s Lord Mayor Steve Rotheram, who in 1989 was a bricklayer attending the game.

“We salute the bravery of those Liverpool fans whose heroics helped save countless lives while those charged with ensuring our safety stood idly by and watched.”

One song sung included the refrain: “For those who are to blame, hang your heads in shame. Only then will their spirits be free”.

Culture Secretary Andy Burnham’s speech was interrupted by the crowd, who chanted “Justice for the 96″.

The disaster “finally ushered in the end of an era when the treatment of supporters was poor and their safety an afterthought,” he said.

“Hillsborough’s permanent legacy is that young and old will forever be safer at matches but we grieve that it took a tragedy on this scale to bring that about.”

At Anfield, there was still anger two decades on, over an article by The Sun newspaper from the time that accused Liverpool fans of stealing from the victims and urinating on the police. The tabloid is still widely boycotted in Liverpool.

Besides the dead, more than 700 people were injured in the crush.
Former players, witnesses and relatives of the dead relived their painful experiences in the build-up to Wednesday’s memorial.

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard’s 10-year-old cousin Jon-Paul Gilhooley was the youngest victim of the tragedy.

“Seeing his mum and his dad and his close family, the reaction on their faces, helped drive me on to become the player I am today,” the England midfielder said.

“Time has gone by, but the scars will never, ever be healed and the fans will never, ever forget.”