Mexico City: A Mexican judge temporarily suspended a US extradition order on Friday for the fugitive drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman even though the federal attorney general’s office had approved it a day earlier.

No reason was given for the suspension.

Guzman, one of the world’s most notorious drug traffickers, broke out of a maximum security prison last month, escaping in a tunnel built right under his cell.

The United States requested Guzman’s extradition on June 25, just a couple of weeks before his escape, but Mexican officials said in January that Guzman would not be handed over because he must first serve time in his home country.

Guzman is wanted by US authorities for a variety of criminal charges including cocaine smuggling and money laundering, and the failure to extradite him has been heavily criticized by the government’s critics since the jail break.

Last month’s dramatic prison break was Guzman’s second since a previous 2001 escape.

After eluding capture for 13 years, Guzman was arrested in his native Sinaloa state in February 2014.

Lawyers working on behalf of Guzman had already sought to nullify the extradition order, which could only be executed if Guzman is recaptured.

A ruling on the request by Guzman’s lawyers is set for Aug.

Peña Nieto’s approval ratings hit

Meanwhile, approval ratings for Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto have fallen to a new low, a newspaper poll showed on Friday amid a weak economy and after Guzman’s escape.

A July email survey of 1,200 people by daily newspaper Reforma showed Peña Nieto’s approval ratings had dropped to 34 per cent from 39 per cent in March. The rating was the worst in a Reforma poll since he took office in December 2012.

The survey was conducted after Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman broke out of prison on July 11 for a second time, escaping in a tunnel built right under his cell.

The jail break by Guzman, who appeared to have had assistance from prison staff, increased pressure on Peña Nieto to do more to curb corruption and the influence of violent drug gangs.

The president’s ratings had already been battered in the past year due to criticism over the disappearance and apparent murder of 43 trainee teachers, suspected extra-judicial killings by the army and conflict-of-interest scandals.

Peña Nieto has pushed through a string of reforms in office, including opening up the oil industry to private investors, but the measures have so far done little to boost weak growth.