Marcos: Time to stop fighting

Subcomandante Marcos: "I'm 518"

Subcomandante Marcos, the mysterious leader of the Zapatista rebel movement in Mexico, says his group is moving away from the armed struggle in its fight for greater rights for indigenous people.

In a newspaper interview with the Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Marcos attacked Mexico's president, Vicente Fox, repeating previous accusations that the president is interested only in his media image.

If the Zapatista National Liberation Army continues as an armed force, it is destined for failure

Subcommandante Marcos

But he said any further fighting now would represent a failure.

The secretive rebel leader also lifted his trademark ski mask a little in the interview, confirming reports that he is the son of rural Mexican teachers. But when asked his age, the Zapatista leader laughed and said 518.

The interview follows Marcos's 15-day march from his jungle hideout to the heart of Mexico City.

Marcos and the Zapatistas want the constitution to be changed to recognise the rights of the country's indigenous Mexicans, estimated to be about 10% of the population.

Demands

President Fox promises dialogue

He has been fighting for this cause since the 1994 Indian uprising in the state of Chiapas.

President Fox has said he wants to meet the rebels' demands. He has ordered the Mexican military to close seven bases in the Chiapas region and freed Zapatista prisoners in federal jails.

But a key rebel demand - the approval of an Indian rights bill - is in the hands of the Mexican congress.

However, Marcos has questioned Mr Fox's sincerity and repeated the accusation in his interview with Mr Marquez, in the Reforma newspaper.

Marcos said the president just wants "a piece of the media pie" and just wants to be photographed with himself and other Zapatista leaders.