Home>News Center>World
             
     

    Colombia government announces peace talks
    (AP)
    Updated: 2005-12-22 08:57

    Colombia's government and the nation's second-largest rebel group ended nearly a week of cordial talks in Cuba on Wednesday with an agreement to set an agenda for formal peace negotiations, a move both sides called significant.

    "I think this shows the seriousness with which these conversations have moved forward," said Colombian peace commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo, the government's envoy, as the discussions wrapped up in Havana. "This commits us as the government to continue moving ahead."

    Restrepo said that just months ago, few in Colombia believed a genuine peace process with the National Liberation Army would be possible. The fact that both sides have committed to more face-to-face meetings in Havana at the end of January was "transcendental," he said.

    The peace commissioner attributed the success to the "cordial" and "respectful" tone of the talks, which opened Friday.

    Antonio Garcia, the military chief of the rebel group known as the ELN, said his group was "pleased with this first step. This recognizes years of work, and could show a change in the path taken by Colombia."

    National Liberation Army, ELN, representatives, Antonio Garcia, left, and Francisco Galan speak to the media during a press conference in Havana,Cuba, Wednesday,Dec.21, 2005.
    National Liberation Army, ELN, representatives, Antonio Garcia, left, and Francisco Galan speak to the media during a press conference in Havana,Cuba, Wednesday,Dec.21, 2005. [AP]
    Colombia's triangular conflict involving government troops, leftist rebels and right-wing paramilitary fighters kills more than 3,000 people each year, most of them civilians.

    Many Colombians are clamoring for peace ahead of elections next year in which President Alvaro Uribe is up for re-election. Uribe has led a three-year military offensive against rebel forces since taking office, but has recently softened his approach after brokering a peace deal with the country's main paramilitary group.

    The current talks with the ELN mark the Uribe administration's first formal negotiations with insurgents.

    Several informal talks between the Colombian government and the ELN have failed since 1998. When Cuba last hosted Colombia's talks with the ELN in 2002, then-President Andres Pastrana pulled out, saying the rebel group was not interested in peace.

    The latest talks aimed at ending part of Colombia's four-decade conflict remain in an introductory stage, but the meetings between Garcia and Restrepo laid a groundwork of mutual trust that will help future encounters, observers said.

    "We salute the atmosphere in which both sides had an attitude of creating confidence and understanding," said Thomas Kupfer, Switzerland's ambassador to Colombia who came to Havana to help facilitate the talks along with envoys from Spain and Norway.

    Both parties declined to provide details of the issues that would be tackled in the agenda-setting meetings. But Garcia said the discussion of deep social and economic changes in Colombia would have to be central to any peace process, and it was assumed the government would demand some sort of cease-fire agreement from the rebels.

    ELN rebels have continued fighting at home during talks in communist-run Cuba. In a show of strength, they joined fighters from two other rebel armies in an attack on a western Colombian village Saturday, killing at least eight police officers and kidnapping several others.

    The ELN has seen its forces dwindle to fewer than 3,500 fighters after Uribe's military offensive. But Garcia said Wednesday the rebel group's fight for social justice represents the desires of most Colombians.

    "The ELN exists way beyond its armed men," he said.



    Public transport strike in New York
    Torrential monsoon rains in southern thailand
    Saddam Hussein's weapons experts being released
     
      Today's Top News     Top World News
     

    HK opposition vote down election reform package

     

       
     

    South China river polluted with cadmium spill

     

       
     

    Tax breaks offered for energy industry

     

       
     

    Measures urged to close income gap

     

       
     

    Saddam claims he was 'beaten by Americans'

     

       
     

    28 infected with HIV after illegal blood sales

     

       
      Saddam claims he was 'beaten by Americans'
       
      Abbas' aides talk about delaying elections
       
      Iranians, Europeans agree to more talks
       
      Rumsfeld: US committed to Afghan campaign
       
      India defends nuclear deal with US
       
      Colombia government announces peace talks
       
     
      Go to Another Section  
     
     
      Story Tools  
       
      News Talk  
      Are the Republicans exploiting the memory of 9/11?  
    Manufacturers, Exporters, Wholesalers - Global trade starts here.
    Advertisement
             
    无码AV动漫精品一区二区免费| 中文字幕精品一区二区精品| 久久久久成人精品无码中文字幕| 亚洲动漫精品无码av天堂| 中文字幕Av一区乱码| 人妻少妇精品无码专区动漫| 亚洲av日韩av无码| 亚洲精品一级无码中文字幕 | 最好看的中文字幕最经典的中文字幕视频 | 粉嫩高中生无码视频在线观看| 无码人妻丝袜在线视频| 中文字幕一区一区三区| 中文无码喷潮在线播放| 人妻少妇看A偷人无码精品视频 | 无码久久精品国产亚洲Av影片| 亚洲视频中文字幕| 天堂а在线中文在线新版| 国产精品亚洲专区无码WEB| 性无码一区二区三区在线观看| 高清无码午夜福利在线观看| 无码毛片一区二区三区中文字幕| 美丽姑娘免费观看在线观看中文版| 亚洲国产精品无码久久久久久曰| 久久久无码精品午夜| 国产精品无码永久免费888| 丰满熟妇人妻Av无码区| 成人午夜福利免费无码视频| 无码精品国产VA在线观看DVD | 国产精品无码无卡无需播放器| 久久久久亚洲av无码专区喷水 | 本道天堂成在人线av无码免费| 国产AV无码专区亚洲AV毛网站| 国产精品久久久久无码av| 国产亚洲?V无码?V男人的天堂 | 日本中文字幕网站| 日韩国产中文字幕| 日韩精品中文字幕第2页| 最近更新免费中文字幕大全| 精品无码久久久久国产动漫3d| 亚洲精品午夜无码专区| 无码人妻精品一区二区|