"Police in the Brazilian Amazon say they have arrested two men in connection with the murders of two rainforest activists who were gunned down in May."

"José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva and his wife, Maria do Espírito Santo, were killed on 24 May, six months after Ribeiro da Silva had predicted during an international environmental conference that he could be killed at any time.

The activists were known for their vocal stance against illegal loggers, cattle ranchers and charcoal producers operating in Praia-Alta Piranheira, a remote Amazon settlement in Brazil's Para state, where they lived.

On Sunday, nearly four months after the killings, police said they had arrested two of their three prime suspects during a dawn raid on a jungle camp around 32 miles from the Amazon town of Novo Repartimento. Police said they had seized three revolvers and one shotgun during the raid."

Tom Phillips reports for the Guardian September 19, 2011. [2]

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