Rio in "real war" with militia and gangs: governor

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Rio de Janeiro police are in a "real war" against militias and drug gangs, the state governor in charge of the region said on Thursday, two days after gunmen murdered seven slum residents.

Authorities said that the 17 gunmen who invaded the Barbante slum in the west of Rio on Tuesday were suspected to include former and off-duty policemen.

They shot dead the seven residents to show the community it needed their "protection." The gunmen were dressed to look like drug traffickers, police and witnesses said.

"The police are taking action and in the west zone we are in a real war," Rio de Janeiro state Governor Sergio Cabral told reporters. "It's a war against criminals, be they drug traffickers or militias.

"Police, firefighters, ex-firefighters are more criminal (than drug gangs) because they have a public duty and they commit this kind of barbarism," he added.

Cabral last week called in the army to boost security ahead of local elections in October, citing the threat to free voting from traffickers and militias, some of whom are suspected of links with state-level politicians.

Media have reported numerous cases of voter intimidation by drug gangs and militias, with many candidates complaining they have been warned away from campaigning in rivals' areas.

Local police chief Marcus Neves said the gunmen in Barbante were led by former police officer Luciano Guinancio, the son of a councilor who was jailed last year for forming a militia, and whose sister is running for a council seat.

The candidate, Carminha Jerominho, denied the killers had anything to do with her family or her campaign, according to media reports.

"Our focus now is to charge these people (the gunmen) and arrest them," said state security secretary Jose Beltrame.

Militias first started appearing in Rio the 1970s and have proliferated in recent years. Many blame politicians and the media for encouraging them to combat drug gangs.

After years of abuses, Brazil's lower house of Congress on Wednesday passed legislation making forming militias a federal crime punishable by four to eight years in prison. The measure still needs Senate approval.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier; Writing by Stuart Grudgings; editing by Alan Elsner)