The Mexican government has rejected allegations made by Zapatista rebels that it is waging a war on the native Indian population in the southern state of Chiapas.

During commemorations marking the fifth anniversary of their uprising, the Zapatistas on Friday said the government was responsible for the massacre of forty-five civilians in the village of Acteal in December 1997.

But the Interior Ministry accused the rebels of lying and denied any involvement in the massacre.

Opposition groups and human rights activists in Mexico continue to blame paramilitary groups with links to the governing party the Institutional Revolutionary Party