Mexican protesters take three more hostages

SAN SALVADOR ATENCO, Mexico-- Farmers armed with machetes and homemade bombs took at least three more hostages Saturday, demanding talks with federal officials in the standoff over construction of a new airport for the Mexican capital.

So far, the central government has sought to stay out of the conflict in which 15 people now are being held by about 1,000 protesters. They oppose the airport's construction and have barricaded themselves in a government building on the outskirts of the capital since Thursday.

The hostages were paraded in front of the crowd Saturday and told journalists they were being treated well. But they said they feared for their lives if police tried to raid the town.

The farmers have threatened to kill the hostages, saying they will tie them to three hijacked gasoline tanker trucks and set them on fire if police try to end the standoff. They have demanded the release of 15 fellow protesters arrested during a previous confrontation. Three have been freed by prosecutors, but the 12 others remained jailed.

Protesters said the three men they took hostage Saturday were state police officials posing as reporters with fake press credentials. A spokeswoman at the state prosecutor's office said she had no information.

Residents also surrounded and captured a fourth man dressed in a police uniform, but he was not among the hostages paraded in front of the crowd and it was unclear if he was being held.

The protesters have refused to negotiate with state leaders, saying they want to talk to former Bishop Samuel Ruiz, who negotiated with the Zapatista rebels in southern Chiapas state. They also have demanded to speak with members of the federal government, or other human rights activists.

President Vicente Fox's government has largely stayed out of the clash, saying the construction of a new $2.3 billion airport -- that will gobble up much of San Salvador Atenco and other nearby communities -- will continue as planned.

However, Interior Secretary Santiago Creel said Friday that federal officials would negotiate with any groups willing to reach an agreement. However, he said Fox would "act with a firm hand to avoid an increase of violence in the country."

The clash has put the country's three parties at odds. Fox has defended the airport project, while Mexico state Gov. Arturo Montiel of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party has tried to defuse the standoff and free the hostages, who include a deputy state prosecutor and several police officers.

Members of the Democratic Revolution Party, a strong opponent of the airport project, have been forced to deny accusations that they have orchestrated the standoff.

On Saturday, Democratic Revolution leader Rosario Robles called for a "human fence" around San Salvador Atenco, saying the residents must be protected.

Mexico City's existing airport, a 91-year-old facility on the eastern edge of the country's sprawling capital, is hemmed in by homes and businesses and cannot be expanded. Only one runway can be used at a time.

Fox's government has approved plans to build a six-runway airport in the area of San Salvador Atenco. Residents have for months protested government attempts to expropriate their lands for the 11,000-acre project.

The government's expropriation order gives residents as little as 60 cents per square yard of land, a price residents say is too low. Many have opposed the airport regardless of what they are offered.

The demonstrators rose up against authorities on Thursday, after more than a dozen people were injured and some 15 were arrested during earlier clashes between anti-airport protesters and police.

Mexico State Attorney General Alfonso Navarrete has said nine more protesters could be freed on bail. But Montiel said two protesters, who face more serious charges of leading the violence and stabbing a policeman, would not be released.

Farm leaders have promised to free all the hostages if police release the rest of the detained protesters.