SAN CRISTOBAL, Mexico (AP) -- International observers said Monday they
                  had received government permission to monitor two military bases the Mexican
                  government recently ordered shut down as part of a peace initiative in the
                  troubled southern state of Chiapas.

                  Members of the nonprofit Global Exchange organization received 30-day visas to
                  monitor the Guadalupe Tepeyac and Garrucha bases, the organization said in a
                  news release.

                  The Zapatista rebels have demanded that President Vicente Fox close seven
                  particularly sensitive bases in the southern state as a prerequisite to restarting
                  peace talks.

                  Fox has complied with the request, as well as submitting to Congress an Indian
                  rights bill whose passage the rebels say is another condition to opening talks with
                  the government.

                  The Zapatistas staged an uprising in the name of Indian rights in Chiapas on
                  January 1, 1994, sparking years of sporadic fighting between rebel sympathizers
                  and paramilitary groups.

                  During the previous administration of President Ernesto Zedillo, scores of
                  Zapatista sympathizers, including many U.S. citizens, were expelled from
                  Mexico.

                  Fox, however, promised to ease restrictions on international observers wanting
                  to monitor efforts to reach peace with the rebels.

                  The National Immigration Institute issued a statement Monday saying that the
                  permission granted to the Americans, Swedes and Canadians from Global
                  Exchange was a reflection of that new policy.

                  Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.