World IN BRIEF : MEXICO : Peace Talks With Zapatistas Resume

Mexican officials and Zapatista rebels have restarted peace talks expected to produce the first formal accord since the uprising in the southern state of Chiapas exploded two years ago. Negotiators said they expect the rebels--mostly Mayan farmers--to come to the negotiating table with backing from their supporters for a preliminary agreement on Indian rights reached late last year between both sides. “If the Zapatista response is positive, then we would sign the first agreements on indigenous rights,” a member of the mediation commission said. Increased Indian rights stands as a main goal of the Zapatistas’ January 1994 uprising. About 145 people died in the first days of fighting; a cease-fire since then has mostly held.