Mexico, Maya Rebel Leaders Discuss New Round of Talks

SAN MIGUEL Maya guerrilla leaders and Mexican governmentofficials met in a jungle village Sunday to resume talks aimed atending a 15-month-old rebellion in the southern state of Chiapas.

The government said three senior Interior Ministry officialsand eight envoys of the Zapatista National Liberation Army opened themeeting before midday in San Miguel, a village on the edge of theLacandon Jungle, to discuss the site and agenda for full-scale peacenegotiations.

The Zapatistas, mostly Maya peasants, took up arms on NewYear's Day, 1994, to demand greater democracy and indigenous rights.

It was not immediately clear if the rebel leader SubcomandanteMarcos was at the meeting, which was the first between the two sidessince President Ernesto Zedillo ordered thousands of troops into thejungle two months ago in an unsuccessful attempt to capture Marcos.

During that offensive, army troops seized dozens of rebel-heldvillages, but Marcos escaped deeper into the jungle with his troops.Zedillo quickly suspended the arrest order in a bid to draw rebelleaders back to the negotiating table.

Sunday's meeting was expected to last several hours.

Red Cross officials and non-governmental civilian groups weredeployed in San Miguel to escort the rebel envoys to and from themeeting and prevent any clash between the Zapatistas and army troopsin the area.

The last round of formal peace talks broke down in March, 1994,and both sides have so far failed to agree on an agenda, with theZapatistas demanding national democratic reforms and the governmentseeking to limit the scope of talks to conditions inside Chiapas.

The village of San Miguel is a former guerrilla strongholdwhich, unlike virtually all others in the region, was not seized bythe army in February. The village's men fled when army troops sweptthrough rebel territory, but their families stayed behind underprotection of the International Red Cross.

San Miguel lies on the edge of the jungle about 20 milessoutheast of Ocosingo, which saw the heaviest fighting in the firstdays of the rebellion.

At least 150 people were killed in those early days, but therehas been virtually no fighting since then.