Why not? It's SUCH a popular idea in the Middle East
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Campaigners decry Rio slum wall
Plans to ring two slums in Rio de Janeiro with a three-metre (10-foot) wall have been condemned by human rights groups and the city's own mayor.
Officials in the Brazilian city are pushing the idea after a drug-related turf war at the weekend left two policemen and six others dead.
"We need to build it immediately," said state Deputy Governor Luiz Paulo Conde.
Amnesty International said the wall would penalise innocent people and was unlikely to be effective.
Another group, Global Justice, said the barrier would create "social apartheid" when what was needed was investment in poor communities.
However, the authorities in Rio state say the wall will help the security forces control the Rocinha and Vidigal favelas, or slums, where 1,200 officers have been on patrol since Friday.
Drug traffickers from Vidigal are believed to have tried to seize control of drug and arms trade.
"The wall isn't to stop the violence, it is to mark off territory," Mr Conde said.
