Ex-Mexican President Under House Arrest

This is a September 1994 photograph of Luis Echeverria, who served as president of Mexico from 1970 to 1976. A Mexican court issued a house-arrest warrant Friday, June 30, 2006, for former President Luis Echeverria on charges of genocide in a 1968 student massacre, his attorney told The Associated Press. It was the first time an arrest warrant of any sort has been issued against a former Mexican president. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) (Jose Luis Magana - AP)

The former president has been briefly hospitalized twice in the past year and is considered to be in poor health.

In February, a leaked draft of a government report on Mexico's "dirty war" alleged the government ordered soldiers to torture, rape and execute people as part of a counterinsurgency campaign from 1960-80.

The president at the time of the 1968 killings, Gustavo Diaz Ordaz, died in 1979.

The report said the most brutal period occurred under Echeverria's presidency, from 1970-76, when military bases allegedly served as "concentration camps" and the government "implemented a genocide plan that was closely followed during his reign." During that time, guerrillas were blamed for a series of kidnappings and attacks on soldiers.

Fox's administration said it did not endorse the draft, and would release a complete version later, but has yet to do so.

The unedited draft alleges the crimes were committed during the administrations of Echeverria and Diaz Ordaz, as well as presidents Jose Lopez Portillo, in office from 1976-82, and Adolfo Lopez Mateos, in office from 1958-64.

Fox promised to prosecute Mexico's past crimes after his 2000 election victory, which ended 71 years of rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party. He named the special prosecutor Carillo shortly after taking office. Fox, who is barred from seeking re-election, is due to step down Dec. 1.

____

Associated Press writer Jason Lange contributed to this report from Mexico City.