MEXICO’S Guerrero state Governor Angel Aguirre Rivero announced on Thursday that he was stepping aside while an investigation continues into police and politicians’ involvement in the disappearance of 43 students.

The students remain unaccounted for following a clash in the town of Iguala on September 26 between police and students from the Rural Normal School of Ayotzinapa.

The students had travelled to Iguala to solicit donations. Three of them and three bystanders were shot dead when police opened fire.

Federal Attorney General Jesus Murillo said this week that the mayor of Iguala, Jose Luis Abarca, had told his police force to intercept the students, fearing that they would interrupt a speech his wife was giving.

Mr Aguirre became a target of protesters’ anger from the start.

He and Mr Abarca are members of the same political party, the left-wing Democratic Revolution Party, which has distanced itself from the two men.