One killed in clash during Mexico vote crisis

MEXICO CITY - A man was shot dead on Tuesday in a clash between supporters of two of the main political parties involved in a post-electoral conflict in Mexico's poor, mainly Maya Indian state of Chiapas.

Mariano Perez was killed when a confrontation between the two groups over access to a school in a highland village got out of hand and shots were fired, Mexican media said.

Supporters of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI wanted to stop children from families with links to the Party of the Democratic Revolution, PRD, from entering the school.

Several people were injured, one with a bullet in the face. It was not clear who fired the shots.

Local authorities said the violence was related to divisions in the Mayan village over community tasks, and not directly linked to the Aug. 20 election, won with a razor thin margin by the leftist PRD candidate, Jaime Sabines.

The PRI, backed by the conservative ruling party of President Vicente Fox, has vowed to fight the election result in the courts, after losing by less than half a percentage point.

At a national level the PRD claims a presidential election it lost on July 2 was stolen by Felipe Calderon, of Fox's party, and has organised massive protests and court battles to fight the result.

- REUTERS