Guatemala prez drops complaint against journalist

GUATEMALA CITY - Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina says he and his vice president have dropped criminal complaints against a newspaper director they accuse of blackmail and harassment.

Molina said Friday it will be up to a tribunal that looks into alleged misdoings by journalists to decide whether Jose Ruben Zamora committed a crime when he published several stories critical of Molina and Vice President Roxana Baldetti.

A judge had barred Zamora from leaving the country after Molina filed a criminal complaint against him and last month a judge granted Baldetti a restraining order against Zamora.

Zamora is director of the newspaper El Periodico and in recent months has published several articles critical of Perez Molina and Baldetti, accusing them of corruption and nepotism.