Giuliani tours crime-ridden Mexico City

MEXICO CITY -- Mobbed by local reporters, the crimefighting former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani on Wednesday ended a two-day visit to Mexico's capital by saying that fighting government corruption will be crucial in lowering crime.

Mexican newspapers reporting his visit, also listed a series of crimes that occurred not far from where he walked. Among them was a Tuesday evening incident in which several policemen were arrested as they tried to rob a house while stowing the loot in police cars.

"Dealing with corruption is going to be a major factor here," Giuliani said.

As Giuliani neared Mexico's central plaza, the Zocalo, shop worker Maricruz Ayala, 31, expressed hope but little optimism about chances for reducing crime.

"I hope he can, but it looks to be difficult," she said. "Corruption goes to the core here in Mexico and I don't see that changing."

Crowded by dozens of local media, Giuliani said that he would have preferred to have traveled in a less conspicuous way and added that his advice for the city is still four months away.

"I would have preferred to have come here alone and quietly and walked about secretly and talked to people," Giuliani told a news conference at the end of his stay.

Instead, he wandered through the streets at the eye of a storm of reporters, cameramen and police guards that made it nearly impossible for him to see anything on Wednesday.

He managed a few relatively calm hours of strolling on Tuesday before local news media discovered him at about dawn.

"Giuliani patrols, guarded by 400" announced the newspaper El Universal, exaggerating the crowd, but not by much.

More than four dozen television and still photographers and dozens of reporters crowded around him on Wednesday as he tried to make his way through Mexico City's narrow downtown streets.

Mexican business leaders collected $4.3 million to hire Giuliani's consulting company in hopes he could help Mexico City follow New York in cutting crime.

Giuliani repeatedly insisted that he never advocated a "zero tolerance" approach to crime, saying it was more an approach of taking small crimes such as broken windows seriously while closely monitoring crime patterns.

Met with the traditional Mexican skepticism over advice from north of the border, Giuliani lavished praise on his hosts and assured that the report due in May would take account of legal and cultural differences.

"We have been very, very favorably impressed with the attitude of openness for the kinds of recommendations that we think will help to improve the quality of life and reduce crime," Giuliani said.