Small bombs hit Mexico election court, party HQ

MEXICO CITY, Nov 6 (Reuters) Small bombs exploded today at Mexico's top electoral court, the headquarters of an opposition party and a bank in the capital but there were no injuries, police said.

The devices went off simultaneously just after midnight.

Glass from broken windows lay on the ground at the court, known as the Trife, which drew protests by leftists in September for ruling that conservative candidate Felipe Calderon won July's presidential election fairly.

Judges threw out claims of fraud by leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who lost narrowly.

A building at the headquarters of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, was also damaged by a bomb. Mexican media said a branch of Canada's Scotiabank in the south of Mexico City was hit by a blast.

The PRI, which ruled Mexico for 71 years until President Vicente Fox beat it at elections in 2000, is now the third force in Mexican politics.

The PRI governor of the state of Oaxaca, Ulises Ruiz, is under pressure to resign after large street demonstrations by opponents who accuse him of corruption and using heavy-handed tactics against striking teachers.

Tens of thousands of protesters marched yesterday in the state capital Oaxaca city where demonstrators clashed with police last week in the deepening conflict.

REUTERS SP RAI1631