Mexican rebel leader Marcos retires, says 'no longer exists'

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Subcommandante Marcos, who led an indigenous uprising in southern Mexico and became one of Latin America's most iconic revolutionaries, on Sunday said he was stepping down as spokesman for the Zapatista rebels and would disappear.

The ski-masked, pipe-smoking guerrilla leader became an idol of the anti-globalisation movement after he led the 1994 Zapatista rebellion in the southern state of Chiapas, but he had avoided public appearances in recent years.