MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Zapatista rebels issued a new rejection of President
                  Vicente Fox's peace overtures on Thursday, saying they plan to head back to
                  their jungle hideout rather than meet him.

                  "We cannot begin the dialogue with the government," masked Comandante
                  Zebedeo told a news conference in Mexico City on Thursday. He said officials
                  have not yet met the rebels' conditions for talks.

                  The rebels were scheduled later to demonstrate in front of Congress for a bill
                  that modify the constitution to give Indian communities greater political
                  autonomy and cultural rights.

                  It was their last planned rally in the capital before heading back to the southern
                  state of Chiapas on Friday -- disappointing officials who hoped that continued
                  dialogue here would help pacify Chiapas.

                  Following a two-week caravan to the capital, the 24 Zapatista leaders had
                  pledged to stay in the capital until the bill was approved. But early this week,
                  angry that Congress refused to let them speak from the podium if its chambers,
                  they announced they would leave.

                  Zebedeo said Fox had not yet met the rebels conditions for talks: closure of
                  seven military bases, freeing all Zapatista prisoners and passage of the Indian
                  rights bill.

                  Fox, however, has already closed four bases and announced Wednesday he
                  would transform three others into Indian community centers -- though troops
                  remained there on Wednesday. Only a few Zapatistas reportedly remain jailed
                  after dozens were freed in amnesties. Fox himself proposed the rebel-backed
                  rights bill to Congress.

                  "You know that for many years we have been tricked with false promises,"
                  Zebedeo said. "So we do not trust in words, but in deeds."

                  Late Wednesday, Fox's peace envoy Luis H. Alvarez delivered the president's
                  letter inviting the Zapatistas to meet with him. However, the rebels have not
                  replied.

                  The Zapatistas left their jungle stronghold on February. 24, launching a 15-day
                  march for "peace, liberty and justice" for all of Mexico's Indians. After drawing
                  nearly 100,000 people to a Mexico City rally on March 11, they camped at the
                  National School of Anthropology and History, venturing out for periodic rallies.

                  Fox has focused on making peace with the rebels since taking office December.
                  1 and has continued to reach out to them, despite a steady barrage of criticism
                  from the chief rebel spokesman, Subcomandante Marcos.

                  The rebel leader has accused the former Coca-Cola executive of making false
                  promises and has attacked the president's plan for economic development in
                  Mexico's poor south, saying Fox wants to turn rural Chiapas state into a "plastic
                  playland."

                  On Jan. 1, 1994, the rebels seized six towns in southern Chiapas state. Twelve
                  days of fighting left more than 145 dead before a cease-fire took hold.

                  Peace talks started quickly, but stalled in 1996 after the government of former
                  President Ernesto Zedillo rejected a proposed bill to enact the Indian rights
                  agreement.

                  Zedillo, too, mounted a peace effort after he took office in December 1994, but
                  he reversed course and sent troops into Zapatista territory in February 1995.

                  The few thousand, poorly armed rebels are no match for Mexico's military, but
                  their demands for Indian rights have won widespread sympathy.

                  Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.