Zapatista fighters emerge to talk peace

 
                  SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, Mexico (CNN) -- Out of
                  the mountains they came. Wearing masks but with a view to peace, 30
                  Zapatista guerrilla commanders abandoned their jungle hideaways to
                  discuss a deal Friday that may end years of killing.

                  Peace talks were scheduled to resume Friday between the Zapatistas and
                  congressional mediators on the thorny issue of autonomy.

                  Leaders of the predominantly Maya Indian rebel force abandoned their
                  jungle hideaways accompanied by hundreds of International Red Cross
                  volunteers, but the charismatic Zapatista leader Subcommander Marcos was
                  not among them.

                  "The attendance of Marcos has not been confirmed, but neither has it been
                  ruled out," congressman Pablo Salazar told reporters from San Cristobal de
                  las Casas, a colonial city in the highlands of Chiapas that is a regional center
                  for the mountain villages where the Zapatistas have popular support.

                  The latest round of talks comes after several false starts which have broken
                  up after strong disagreements emerged over the extent of autonomy to be
                  offered to Indian communities.

                  Meeting of minds

                  "We will do our utmost to meet the expectations for this meeting with the
                  idea of renewing peace negotiations," Javier Guerrero, leader of the
                  congressional team and a legislator for the ruling Institutional Revolutionary
                  Party (PRI), told reporters.

                  The Zapatistas launched an armed uprising in Chiapas on January 1, 1994.
                  About 150 died in 10 days of combat, but hundreds of other people, mostly
                  civilians, have been killed since then in related political violence in the
                  impoverished state.

                  The previous talks had four parties, including the Roman Catholic Church
                  and the government as well as the rebels and the congressional team.
                  Friday's talks are set to resume with only the Zapatistas and the legislators
                  taking part.

                  The three-day talks mark the first meeting since January 1997 between the
                  rebels and Mexican legislators.

                  Pulling back the guns

                  To aid the peace process, the Mexican army on Wednesday suspended land
                  patrols in the so-called conflict zone in the Chiapas highlands. The army also
                  abandoned its many checkpoints in the area.

                  Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo promised to reduce the army presence so
                  the peace talks could proceed.

                  "We have the full desire of obtaining good results with the civil society that is
                  working for peace," said rebel leader Major Moises.

                  The almost 5-year-old conflict has been a constant cloud over the
                  administration of Zedillo, who took office a year after the Zapatista staged
                  an uprising in the name of greater rights for indigenous peoples.

                  Negotiations between the government and the rebels have been stalled since
                  1996, when the government failed to honor a partial peace accord signed
                  that year by federal representatives.

                  While the Zapatista National Liberation Army does not pose a threat to the
                  Mexican government in a military sense, its continued presence in Chiapas'
                  Lacandon jungle has left Zedillo open to criticism at home and abroad that
                  he is not doing enough for peace and to help Mexico's poor Indians.

                       The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.