One shot dead in Mexico's troubled Oaxaca city

OAXACA, Mexico, Oct 19 (Reuters) Unknown gunmen shot a man dead in the southern Mexican city of Oaxaca in the latest attack on protesters demanding the ouster of state governor Ulises Ruiz.

Demonstrators' spokesman Florentino Lopez said the man, a teacher, was hit yesterday by three bullets in a drive-by shooting as he left a meeting in the city, a popular tourist destination which has been paralyzed by the protests.

Eight people have now been killed in the conflict that began almost five months ago when striking teachers and leftist activists occupied much of the colonial city, blocking hundreds of streets.

They say Ruiz, from the Institutional Revolutionary Party, is authoritarian and should step down for using heavy handed tactics to try to break a teachers' strike.

President Vicente Fox has vowed to end the conflict before he leaves office on December 1. but federal senators trying to find a solution held their third day of talks yesterday in Mexico City with little progress.

REUTERS PDM ND1058