Attorney General Jorge Madrazo released a 153-page report detailing
                  investigations into the Dec. 22, 1997, massacre in Acteal of 21 women, 15
                  children and nine men who sympathized with Chiapas state's Zapatista
                  National Liberation Army.

                  "We found no political roots of the massacre," Deputy Attorney General
                  Jose Luis Ramos Rivera said at a news conference.

                  Most of the suspects in the killings identified themselves as supporters of the
                  ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, while the victims belonged to
                  a group that sympathizes with leftist Zapatista rebels.

                  The Zapatistas staged a brief armed uprising in Chiapas in January 1994,
                  demanding greater democracy and Indian rights. Peace talks between the
                  government and rebels have been stalled since 1996, and clashes between
                  the two sides have been frequent since then.

                  The deputy attorney general said there was no evidence the ruling party was
                  aware of the massacre plans. The report also found no evidence of charges
                  Mexico's army aided the armed group that committed the slaying.

                  Madrazo outlined three major causes of the massacre: a long history of
                  religious and economic conflicts among Indian communities in the region; the
                  creation of a rebel-run town near Acteal where the Zapatista presence
                  "radicalized" existing conflicts; and the absence of law and order in the area,
                  which caused villagers to resort to vigilante justice.

                  Of 135 people arrested in the case, only one has been sentenced _ a former
                  state policeman sentenced to three years for his role in transporting arms
                  used in the massacre.

                  The National Human Rights Commission charged last week that the
                  government has failed to adequately punish those responsible and has not
                  reformed the state police force or provided economic aid to the area.

                  Officials have said state police failed to control the violence leading up to the
                  massacre and have claimed that many sided with the anti-Zapatista faction in
                  organizing it.

                  A total of 18 Chiapas state police and government officials were removed
                  from office. Eleven were banned from public service for periods ranging
                  from six to 10 years for having failed to stop the massacre.

                   Copyright 1998 The Associated Press.