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Colombian Government, FARC Rebels Agree to Resume Peace Talks
The Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Colombia's largest rebel group, agreed on Sunday to resume peace talks to discuss an end of hostilities.
The decision was made after a meeting between the government's high peace commissioner Camilo Gomez and FARC spokesman Raul Reyes in the demilitarized zone the government ceded to the FARC in the southern Caqueta State.
Both sides said the resumption of peace talks is key to restoring peace in Colombia.
But Reyes ruled out the possibility of discussing the issue of the three Germans held by the FARC in future peace talks.
He said that the FARC will only talk about the issue with the German government.
The three Germans were accused of using social projects to mask military aid to the Colombian government in the drug-fighting " Plan Colombia," and detained by the FARC last month.
Also on Sunday, Colombian Interior Minister Armando Estrada reiterated the government's readiness to restart peace talks with the National Liberation Army (NLA), Colombia's second largest guerrilla faction, saying that negotiation is the only way to regain peace.
Early this month, the Colombian government launched an all-out military offensive against the FARC and NLA after a breakdown of peace talks between the government and the two rebel groups. Despite gains on military fields, the Colombian government has repeatedly expressed its willingness to resume peace talks with the FARC and NLA.
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