Guatemala Interior Minister Resigns

GUATEMALA CITY

Guatemala's interior minister resigned on Monday in the wake of a scandal over police investigators' alleged involvement in the grisly murder of three Salvadoran politicians last month.

While President Oscar Berger rejected a congressional declaration expressing a lack of confidence in Carlos Vielman, "he can't force anyone to stay," government spokeswoman Krista Kepfer said. Both Berger and Vice President Eduardo Stein lauded Vielman's performance.

Vielman's replacement was to be named by the president later Monday.

The charred bodies of three Salvadoran members of the Central American Parliament, which is based in Guatemala, were found along a rural road on Feb. 19. Autopsies determined that two were burned alive, while the third legislator and their driver died before their bodies were set on fire.

Officials have identified seven Guatemalan police officials as suspects, including four who were arrested but later killed in prison under circumstances that remain murky. Another officer is in custody, and two remain at large.

Four more people who prosecutors say were linked with drug trafficking were arrested Feb. 20 on suspicion of orchestrating the killings. But authorities still have not determined a clear motive for the crime.

Vielman, who initially presented his resignation days after the police officers' involvement was uncovered, said he was quitting because opposition party lawmakers in the Congress "used public security in a political fashion and not in an institutional way."