Shot Dead in Argentina
Facundo Cabral Famous..
..for his folk style of music throughout South America and the Latin world in general, was surrounded by murderers and gunned down in cold blood today. There could be no immediate cause for such a tremendous crime coming from this part of the world, except that it is the murder capital of the continent, according to authorities there.
This story and others like it teach us how close some people come to Islam in their thinking, yet they never got the message (or did they?). Read on...
One of Latin America's most famous folk singers, Facundo Cabral, has been shot dead in the capital of Guatemala, officials say.
Cabral, 74, was heading from his hotel to the airport in Guatemala City when he was reportedly ambushed, although the motive is not yet clear.
He had performed in the city of Quetzaltenango, 200km (120 miles) west of Guatemala City, on Thursday.
In 1996, Unesco declared Cabral a "world messenger of peace".
His most famous song was No Soy de Aqui ni Alla (I'm Not From Here or There), which was recorded in a number of languages.
Guatemala has one of the highest murder rates in Latin America.
Protest singer
Police said Cabral's vehicle, which was accompanied by another carrying bodyguards, had been hit by a number of rifle bullets and the singer died at the scene.
He was heading to Nicaragua for more concerts.
Rolando Robles, a spokesman for Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom, said the leader was "dismayed by this cowardly act".
The president's office said that police were investigating whether the shooting was an attempted robbery or a targeted attack.
Local media said the vehicle carrying Cabral tried to escape into a fire station. Police said one of the attackers' vehicles was later found abandoned on the road to El Salvador. It had bullet holes and contained spent cartridges.
President Colom told Argentine radio he had called his counterpart, President Cristina Fernandez, to tell her the news and said that it "seemed to hit her hard".
"We will find these criminals and bring them to justice," Mr Colom said.
Cabral's representative, David Llanos, told reporters: "I don't know how and why this happened, because Facundo is well-known around the world and I don't see why anyone would be interested in killing him."
Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman tweeted his "profound sadness" at the news.
The presidents of Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela were among those sending condolences.
Guatemala has announced three days of official mourning.
Guatemalan Nobel Peace Prize winner, Rigoberta Menchu, travelled to the scene of the killing and openly wept.
"For me, Facundo Cabral is a master," she said. "He loved Guatemala greatly."
Guatemalan fan Edgar Palacios, 54, told Reuters the singer would not be forgotten.
"Facundo Cabral died but his music will never die, just like John Lennon died but his music never died. Cabral wasn't just from one country. He was a universal man."
Cabral became famous in the early 1970s as a protest singer in Argentina.
His wife and baby daughter died in a plane crash in 1978.
In an interview with Associated Press in 2008, he said: "I love life so much because it cost me so much to enjoy it. From the cradle to the grave is a school, so if what we call problems are lessons, we see life differently."
