Bomb deactivated at Mexican mall

Mexican soldiers deactivated a bomb at a mall in central Mexico Saturday, but it was not clear if the incident was tied to the country's drug war, Mexican newspaper Milenio reported. A message from a criminal group was left with the bomb in Leon, Milenio said. There was no information on the nature of the group. Authorities in Leon, a city of about a million people, were not immediately available for comment.

The newspaper said workers found an "explosive device" in the mall's parking lot and alerted authorities. Army troops deactivated it. Nobody was reported injured. Mexican drug gangs started using car bombs this year to target police, but have so far not used bombs against the general population. Four people were killed in July in Ciudad Juarez by a bomb planted in a car, the first such attack since President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006.