A United Nations official has begun a visit to the southern Mexican state of Chiapas for talks with government officials, human rights groups and Zapatista rebels.

The head of the UN's working group on Indigenous People, Erika Daes, has offered to mediate a solution to the simmering conflict between the government and the rebels.

The rebels staged an uprising in 1994 to demand greater autonomy and more rights for Mexico's indians, but peace talks broke down following bitter disagreements between the two sides three years later.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service