Drug Czar Sought; Supporters View Gangster As Local Hero

Gun battles raging in the Jamaican capital have left more than 60 people dead, mostly civilians, hospital sources said yesterday, as troops fanned out across the city hunting an alleged drug kingpin.

With violence turning much of Kingston into a war zone, three trucks loaded with bodies, including a baby, unloaded their grim cargo at a morgue in one of the main hospital complexes, an Agence France-Presse correspondent saw.

Hundreds of troops and police have been deployed to hunt down Christopher "Dudus" Coke, wanted in the United States on drug-trafficking charges, amid a week-long standoff with his loyal supporters.

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