Mexico court orders ex-president arrest in massacre

MEXICO CITY, Nov 30 (Reuters) A Mexican court ordered the arrest of former president Luis Echeverria for his part in a 1968 massacre of leftist students just days before the Olympic Games opened in Mexico, a judicial source said.

Echeverria was interior minister in charge of national security when government forces stormed a student rally in a square in the capital's Tlatelolco district.

Officials said yesterday about 30 people were killed, although witnesses and rights activists put the death toll as high as 300.

The source, in a special prosecutor's office set up to investigate ''dirty war'' crimes, said the arrest warrant was issued on a charge of genocide.

REUTERS SBA BST0510