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Mass anti-crime rallies in Mexico

Marches are being held throughout Mexico to protest against a wave of killings, kidnappings and shootouts sweeping the nation.

The rallies are being held in each of Mexico's 32 states, with up to 500,000 people expected in the capital Mexico City alone, organisers say.

Many protesters say the government is unable to curb the violence.

Some 2,700 people have been killed in Mexico this year, most of them victims of drug-related attacks.

More people are now kidnapped in Mexico than in Colombia or Iraq, with more than 300 reported attacks so far during 2008.

The protests are being organised by a number of anti-crime groups, who have urged demonstrators to march in silence with candles or lanterns.

The message is: Get to work or we will hold you accountable. We are angry Demonstrator

In Mexico City, demonstrators - many dressed in white - gathered at the Independence Angel monument before before marching to the capital's main plaza, the Zocalo.

Many carried national flags - a sign that they want a unified country in the fight against crime, says the BBC's Duncan Kennedy in the city.

Others carried banners bearing slogans such as "No more impunity" and "No more revoking sentences". Others carried pictures of their children who had been kidnapped.

"The most frustrating thing has been the indolence of many of the authorities, their insensitivity," said the father of Monica Alejandrina Ramirez, who was kidnapped in 2004 and has not been heard of since.

"I have often asked myself, why? Why me? Why my daughter?"

Emergency plan

Some 4,000 police officers have been deployed in the capital to provide security during the march.

Many protesters blame the government for the high crime rate

Many protesters blame the government for what they say is its inability to combat crime.

"The message is: Get to work or we'll hold you accountable," said Eduardo Gallo, whose 25-year-old daughter was kidnapped and murdered in 2000. "We are angry."

Their anger comes despite a series of tough measures unveiled in recent years by President Felipe Calderon, including the deployment of more than 25,000 police and troops around the country to wrest Mexico from drug cartels.

Last week the country's political and security leaders launched an emergency programme to try to combat the rising wave of violence.

Measures include sacking corrupt police officers, two new prisons for kidnappers and strategies to combat money-laundering and drug-trafficking.

Our correspondent says the rate of violent crime has led to a sense of crisis, with politicians blaming each other.