Mexican police break up pro-Zapatista community

Mexican security forces have raided a village in the southern state of Chiapas and freed at least one man being held hostage by supporters of the Zapatista rebels.

More than two-hundred police officers and soldiers encircled the village and arrested forty-seven people.

Residents say their homes were destroyed, but state officials deny this.

The Zapatistas have set up nearly forty similar autonomous communities in Chiapas, as part of attempts to increase their political control over the state.

The BBC Mexico correspondent says the government views autonomy as a threat to national security and is adopting a harder attitude towards the rebels and their supporters.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service