The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, Mexico City

Mexican Interior Minister Juan Camilo Mourino, an ally of President Felipe Calderon, died on Tuesday when a small plane he was traveling in crashed into evening rush hour traffic in Mexico City.

The reason for the crash was not clear but a civil aviation disaster expert told Reuters that sabotage could not be ruled out, along with other possible causes like engine failure.

Seven other people were killed and 40 injured when the government Learjet smashed into the street in an upscale business district of the capital, setting several cars ablaze.

Calderon, who is waging a high-stakes war on Mexico's powerful drug cartels, mourned the loss of a close aide and friend who had worked with him for years.

"Mexico has lost a compatriot who worked for the service of his country," Calderon said in a televised speech.

"The federal government, under my charge, in coordination with the relevant institutions, will carry out all necessary investigations in order to check in depth what caused this tragedy," he said.

Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, the deputy attorney general until recently and a key player for years in Mexico's army-led war on drug cartels, was among other government officials who died in the crash.

More than 4,000 people have been killed this year, mainly drug traffickers but also police and soldiers, by drug gang hitmen lashing back at Calderon's anti-cartel campaign and fighting new turf wars with each other.

Drug gangs appeared to take their feud with the government to a new level in September when a grenade was lobbed into a crowd of civilians celebrating a national holiday. Authorities are holding three men charged with carrying out the attack for the Gulf cartel's armed "Zetas" wing.