BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- The European Union urged Mexican rebels to
                  return to a dialogue with the government of President Vicente Fox about passage
                  of a constitutional amendment guaranteeing indigenous rights to Mexican
                  Indians.

                  The EU foreign ministers, gathered in Brussels for a regular meeting, said they
                  regretted the decision of the Zapatista National Liberation Army, known by its
                  Spanish acronym of EZLN, "to suspend its contacts with the Mexican
                  government."

                  They urged it to "respond to the constructive offer by President Fox to find
                  political ways to make progress on those elements which have not been included
                  in the new law."

                  Zapatistas say the bill, changed by the Senate and passed by both houses of
                  Congress recently falls short of guaranteeing Indian communities autonomy and
                  self-determination.

                  Passage of the bill was one of the three conditions established by the Zapatistas
                  to reopen peace talks with the government in Mexico City.

                  The Zapatistas launched a short-lived revolution in the name of Indian rights on
                  Jan. 1, 1994 in southern Chiapas state.

                  "The EU is convinced that a dialogue between the Mexican government and the
                  EZLN is of vital importance in order to reach a final settlement of the situation in
                  Chiapas," the EU foreign ministers said in their statement.

                  Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.