Naming of New Special Prosecutor Revitalizes Colosio Slaying Inquiry : Mexico: The move, coupled with the promise of peace talks with Indian rebels, generates an atmosphere of optimism.

Almost four months after the assassination of ruling party presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio, the seemingly stalled investigation into his murder has been revitalized with a new special prosecutor who will have an additional support team of distinguished legal experts.

Mexican politicians and other leaders were nearly universal Friday in praising the nomination of well-known prosecutor Olga Islas to replace Supreme Court Justice Miguel Montes Garcia in leading the investigation. Islas’ appointment virtually assures that the probe will not be completed before the Aug. 21 election.

Still, the atmosphere in the capital was hopeful Friday, contrasting sharply with the outrage that had greeted Montes’ conclusion Tuesday that there had been no conspiracy to murder Colosio. Besides the assurance that the investigation would continue, Mexicans also received encouraging news about their nation’s other major problem.

The Indian rebels who rose up against the government Jan. 1 in Chiapas state and who last month rejected a peace proposal, late Thursday agreed to accept a new peace negotiator and to resume talks.

Preliminary discussions with representatives of the rebels to establish a format for talks were to begin Friday.

With that step, the government seemed to be moving toward solutions for two national concerns that had appeared to be mired in election-year politics.

Islas’ appointment signaled new life for the Colosio investigation on several fronts: It healed a rift between the special prosecutor and the attorney general’s office; it created a mechanism to review Montes’ investigation and suggest new lines of inquiry, and it coincided with the long-anticipated delivery of a subpoena to the father of alleged assassin Mario Aburto Martinez.

Aburto was arrested immediately after Colosio was fatally shot during a campaign rally March 23 in a working-class Tijuana neighborhood. A second man was accused of helping him as investigators developed a conspiracy theory that would eventually include seven plotters. Three of those accused of aiding Aburto are still jailed, although Montes later said he found no evidence of a plot.

Almost as soon as the investigation was taken away from the attorney general’s office with Montes’ appointment March 28, federal police and their bosses began criticizing his efforts.

The sniping diminished when then-Atty. Gen. Diego Valades was replaced by Humberto Benitez. But the resentment remained evident. The change, according to an editorial in the independent newspaper La Jornada, “is a measure that puts the investigation of this tragic episode back where it belongs--with the federal attorney general.”

Islas was Benitez’s chief of staff when he was city attorney for the capital. She will be assisted by a commission charged with reviewing Montes’ investigation and suggesting new lines of inquiry.

Commission members include a former attorney general, a law professor who was once a police investigator, a well-known criminal defense lawyer and the chief justice of the Sonora State Supreme Court.

The fifth panel member, Agustin Santa Marina, a corporate lawyer, was the only attorney named to the citizens panel, which had earlier been asked to oversee Montes’ investigation and resigned when he refused to provide them with access to documents.

Indications suggest that the new lines of inquiry will include a fresh look at the possibility of a plot to kill Colosio.

Ruben Aburto, father of the 23-year-old factory worker accused of killing Colosio, received a subpoena Thursday at his San Pedro home to testify in the case, said his attorney, Peter Schey. Ruben Aburto has told reporters that his son had spoken of attending political meetings with men now being held as co-conspirators. “That certainly brings into question the theory that Mario acted alone,” Schey said. “It seems strange, to say the least, that after months of offering testimony he is finally called.”

The subpoena was issued Wednesday--before Montes resigned but after he had released his conclusion that Mario Aburto acted alone.

Ruben Aburto plans to testify before a U.S. federal prosecutor, as permitted by a U.S.-Mexico treaty, Schey said. He plans to insist that the hearing be public. The U.S. attorney general’s office refused comment.

The family remains concerned about Mario Aburto’s treatment, but his father does not intend to condition his court appearance on the family’s request that the imprisoned Aburto be allowed to see them, as well as private attorneys and doctors, Schey said. “He is not going to avoid a subpoena,” the lawyer said. “The father is prepared to testify and he would like to do so.”