Mexican army denies moves against rebel stronghold

The Mexican army has denied reports that it surrounded the main headquarters of the Zapatista rebels, in an apparent attempt to seize the rebel leader, Sub-commandante Marcos.

Zapatista sympathisers said that hundreds of troops surrounded the mountain stronghold at La Realidad in the southern state of Chiapas, detaining and torturing local peasants to find the wherabouts of Sub-commandante Marcos, who was forced to flee.

But the army says there was no more than normal troop movement, and a French news agency journalist in La Realidad reported no sign of soldiers.

A BBC Correspondent in Chiapas says the military presence in the area has increased steadily over the past week, but there are now suggestions that a propaganda war has spun out of control.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service