Farc set for peace talks
Tuesday 04 September 2012
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EmailColombia's Farc rebels confirmed today that they were ready to take part in peace talks aimed at ending Latin America's longest-running armed conflict, now nearly 50 years old.
"We come to the table for dialogue without rancour or arrogance," Farc leader Rodrigo Londono, also known as "Timochenko," said in a video message on the website of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
It was the first comment from Latin America's oldest guerilla army since President Juan Manuel Santos announced a week ago that preliminary talks were under way, before fully fledged discussions.
Santos said that formal peace talks would start in "several weeks" but warned that "the process will likely be difficult."
The discussions will address distributing land to peasant farmers, rebel links to drug trafficking and reincorporating guerilla leaders into everyday life.
This is a sensitive point, as many of them have been convicted of crimes against humanity.
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