Colombian President Jose Manuel Santos announced Tuesday that the ceasefire signed with Marxist rebel group FARC will expire at the end of the month.

"I hope that we can advance in our accords and dialogues so that we can settle on the arrangements, and the agreements that allow us to put in place a solution to this conflict," Santos said in a televised statement.

Colombia was thrown into disarray Sunday after voters narrowly rejected a referendum on the deal brokered between the government and FARC to end a 52-year war. Final results showed a little more than 50% of voters chose "no."

On Wednesday, Santos will meet with opposition leader and former president Alvaro Uribe. Santos will also meet with former president Andrés Pastrana Arango, who also opposed the peace deal. </s> BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — President Juan Manuel Santos announced on Thursday that he is extending a ceasefire with Colombia’s largest rebel movement in a bid to give more time to efforts to save a peace deal rejected by voters.

Santos said in a televised address that he was extending by two months the ceasefire with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia until Dec. 31.

He made the announcement after meeting with students who have been organizing demonstrations across the country to demand the accord be implemented immediately despite it being rejected in a referendum.

“Let it be clear: this isn’t an ultimatum or deadline,” Santos said, adding that he hoped to have an agreement before year’s end. He said the lives of soldiers and guerrillas depended on warfare not resuming. “Time is conspiring against peace and life.”

Santos, winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, is engaged in three-way talks with the FARC and the opposition to find ways to adjust the accord so that it enjoys broader support.

Former President Alvaro Uribe, who led opposition to the accord, is demanding deep changes such as stiffer penalties for rebels who committed war crimes. Meanwhile the rebels, who would be spared jail time under the accord, are insisting they won’t go back to the drawing board and throw out more than four years of arduous negotiations with the government. </s> BOGOTA: Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said a ceasefire with the country’s FARC guerillas has been extended until December 31 but that he hopes to have “a new agreement” for peace before that date.

“I have made the decision to extend the bilateral ceasefire until December 31. Let this be clear: This is not an ultimatum nor a deadline, but I hope that the entire process of obtaining a new agreement will be complete well before then,” the president said in a televised address.

The announcement came as Santos held fresh meetings with the opposition and members of the public, seeking a solution to the political fallout caused by voters who rejected the peace accord negotiated between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the government.

Santos — who has staked his legacy on making peace — had previously said that the army would halt its ceasefire at the end of this month if no solution to the impasse was found by then.

The FARC, which had criticized Santos’ deadline, has also confirmed its willingness to continue negotiations and maintain a bilateral ceasefire.

Santos said he made the decision to extend the ceasefire after a student at one of the meetings told him that “in the army and among the guerrillas there are young people who are aware of what is happening, who hope not to have to return to shooting.”

In his address Santos urged Colombians to “achieve forever an end to the violence, the return of the displaced to their homes.”

The Colombian leader won the Nobel Peace Prize just a few days after voters shot down the historic accord in a referendum that would have ended more than 52 years of conflict.

The prize appeared to encourage the peacemakers.

Since the accord’s rejection, Santos has held marathon talks with political figures including the country’s former president Alvaro Uribe — who led opposition to the agreement — as well as religious leaders and victims of the armed conflict.

The government on Thursday also welcomed the leader of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, who urged Colombian leaders to commit to reaching a “prompt and urgent solution” to swiftly implement a peace agreement with the FARC. AFP </s> BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos on Thursday extended his ceasefire with Marxist FARC rebels through the end of the year as he seeks to revive a peace accord to end five decades of war after voters rejected the hard-fought deal in a referendum.

Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos speaks to guests after receiving the Clinton Global Citizen Award in New York, U.S., September 19, 2016. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo

The original ceasefire, which was put in place in August, was nullified when the peace accord was rejected in plebiscite earlier this month. He had already extended it to Oct. 31.

The decision comes as Santos and his team hear proposals from representatives of those who voted against the accord - rejected by a razor-thin margin of less than half a percentage point - as too lenient on the Marxist rebels.

He will take the proposals to the FARC leadership in Havana, who have said they are willing to discuss new ideas.

Santos said he decided to extend the ceasefire further after meeting with student leaders who had organized two huge marches through Bogota to show support for a peace accord.

“One of the students reminded me, that in the army and in the guerrilla ranks, there are young people waiting to see what happens, hoping that they don’t need to fire another shot,” Santos said in a televised address.

“For that reason, and at the request of the students, I have taken the decision to extend the ceasefire until Dec. 31.”

The ceasefire can be extended further, but Santos said he hopes a new deal is approved long before then. Santos won the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for his efforts to end the war.

Led by hardline former President Alvaro Uribe, the “No” side wants rebels who have committed war crimes to be confined for five to eight years - possibly on agricultural farms - and banned from elected office.

They were outraged that the accord offered 10 congressional seats and non-traditional sentences like clearing landmines instead of prison cells in return for ending a conflict that has killed more than 220,000 people.

Although the FARC leadership has said it is willing to hear new ideas, Uribe’s proposals may be difficult to accept, given they have repeatedly refused to consider jail time and want to form a political party. </s> BOGOTA: Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said that a ceasefire with FARC rebels will end on October 31, as both sides scramble to find a solution to the half-century conflict after voters rejected a peace deal.

The chief of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) Rodrigo Londono, better known as Timoleon “Timochenko” Jimenez, promptly took to Twitter to ask “And after that, the war continues?”

Just a day earlier, he had vowed the guerrillas would continue to observe the ceasefire despite the referendum results.

“I hope we can move forward… to realize the necessary agreement to find a solution to this conflict,” Santos said in a televised address from the presidential palace.

As part of his efforts to salvage the peace deal on which he has staked his legacy, Santos plans to meet with his former boss and current nemesis Alvaro Uribe at the presidential palace at 11:30 am (1630 GMT) Wednesday, officials said.

The high-stakes meeting comes after Colombians on Sunday narrowly voted against a deal Uribe had condemned as too lenient on the leftist guerrillas — throwing the nearly four-year-old peace process into disarray and giving the former president a major victory.

Santos is fighting on two fronts after the unexpected result: he must find a compromise solution acceptable to both the hardliners in Uribe’s camp and the FARC.

The government and the FARC have had a ceasefire in place since August 29, five days after the two sides clinched a peace deal following five years of arduous negotiations in Cuba. The ceasefire had originally been intended to be permanent.

The government’s chief peace negotiator, Humberto de la Calle, has returned to Havana to see whether the FARC is open to revising the deal.

“The decision on whether to open up the agreements is a decision that falls to the FARC,” Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin told a press conference.

Santos has named Holguin, de la Calle and Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas to hold talks with the opposition on salvaging the deal.

Holguin said the government is “fully ready” to listen to the deal’s opponents.

She admitted the government was left scrambling by the surprise referendum result, which flew in the face of opinion polls.

“There was no Plan B. We believed the country wanted peace,” she said.

A United Nations mission tasked with overseeing the disarmament process was also left adrift.

“The mandate for the UN political mission… is for a peace deal. At this point, we don’t have a peace deal,” Holguin told journalists.

The meeting between Santos and Uribe comes after the latter’s right-wing party, the Democratic Center, snubbed emergency talks that Santos convened Monday at the presidential palace to chart a way forward with the country’s top political leaders.

The two men have a complicated history.

Santos served as Uribe’s defense minister from 2006 to 2009, leading a major army offensive against the FARC.

But he shifted gears after succeeding Uribe in 2010, opening peace talks with the weakened rebels — and provoking a falling-out with his former boss, who branded him a traitor.

Santos will also meet with former president Andres Pastrana (1998-2002), another major opponent of the peace deal, an hour before Uribe, his office said.

Both meetings will be held behind closed doors.

Santos said on Twitter he had invited the two former presidents “to dialogue… in a constructive spirit.”

His last known meeting with Uribe was in January 2011, after his government began secret talks with the FARC.

After formal talks with the rebels opened in Cuba in November 2012, Santos repeatedly offered to meet his predecessor, but no sit-down materialized.

The Colombia conflict has killed more than 260,000 people and left 45,000 missing over half a century, drawing in several leftist guerrilla groups, right-wing paramilitaries and drug gangs.

The FARC, the oldest and largest rebel group, was set to relaunch as a political party under the peace deal. AFP </s> Nobel Peace Prize laureate Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos speaks during an AFP interview before the ceremony of the Nobel Peace Prize 2016 in Oslo on December 10, 2016 (AFP Photo/Tobias Schwarz)

Oslo (AFP) - Hours before accepting the Nobel Peace Prize on Saturday, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said he could offer no guarantees there would be a peace deal in place with ELN rebels before the end of his mandate in 2018.

"I cannot guarantee that we will finish before the end of my mandate," Santos told AFP in an interview in Oslo, referring to talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN), Colombia's second-largest rebel group after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

"I will do my best but to establish a timeframe is always counter-productive in negotiations of this sort," he said.

Santos was awarded the 2016 Nobel prize for his peace efforts, including his bid to end a five-decade conflict with the Marxist FARC rebels that has killed more than 260,000 people, left 45,000 missing and forced nearly seven million to flee their homes.

Santos's government and the FARC signed a peace accord on November 24, after a first agreement was unexpectedly rejected by Colombians an October 2 referendum.

The peace deal calls for the FARC's disarmament and its transformation into a political movement.

But, before Colombia can have total peace, the ELN, which has 1,500 guerrillas, also has to lay down its arms.

The ELN and the government began secret talks in January 2014 to pave the way for official talks but the process has stumbled over the issue of hostages and prisoners held by the two sides.

"Kidnapping, specifically kidnapping civilians, is something that is not acceptable ... We have told them 'You have to free the people you have kidnapped in order to start public negotiations'," Santos told AFP.

"They have not complied with this demand. When they comply with this demand, we're ready to start public negotiations," he said.

The Colombian government has suspended the preparatory talks until January 10, insisting that the ELN first release hostage ex-congressman Odin Sanchez.

The ELN has meanwhile called for the simultaneous release of two imprisoned rebels who are due to be pardoned.

Santos said the hardest part of the peace process in his country was yet to come.

The period ahead "is a more difficult phase than the (negotiation) process itself, and will require a lot of effort, perseverance and humility," he said.

"A lot of coordination efforts will also be needed across the entire government to bring the benefits of peace to the regions that have suffered the most in the conflict," he added.

Santos will receive the prize on Saturday afternoon at Oslo's City Hall at a ceremony attended by the royal family, members of the Norwegian government, representatives of victims of the conflict, and two high-profile former FARC hostages, Ingrid Betancourt and Clara Rojas. </s> The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on Sunday issued the order for its fighters to observe the ceasefire from Monday midnight.

A historic midnight ceasefire on Sunday is set to end a 52-year-old war between the Colombian state and FARC rebels.

Hundreds of thousands of Colombians have died since 1964 as rebel armies and gangs battled in the jungles in what is considered Latin America's last major civil armed conflict.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on Sunday issued the order for its fighters to observe the ceasefire from midnight (0500 GMT Monday).

“I order all our commanders and units and each one of our combatants to definitively cease fire and hostilities against the Colombian state from midnight tonight” top FARC leader Timoleon Jimenez said in a declaration before the media in Cuba, where peace talks were held.

On the government side, President Juan Manuel Santos on Thursday ordered the Colombian national armed forces to halt military operations against the FARC.

“We noted with excitement the president's order to the army. Consequently we are proceeding to give the same order to our troops,” Jimenez said Sunday, surrounded by FARC commanders in white shirts.

Santos wrote on Twitter: “The end of the conflict has arrived!”

The FARC declared a unilateral ceasefire in July 2015. But Sunday night's ceasefire is the first in which both sides have committed to a definitive end to the fighting.

“The ceasefire is really one more seal on the end of the conflict. It is the test of fire,” said Carlos Alfonso Velazquez, a security expert at the University of La Sabana.

Santos and Timochenko are due to sign a final, full peace agreement sometime between September 20 and 26.

The ceasefire and definitive end of hostilities will be followed by a six-month demobilization process.

From Monday, the FARC's estimated 7,500 fighters will start heading to collection points to give up their weapons under UN supervision.

Guerrillas who refuse to demobilize and disarm "will be pursued with all the strength of the state forces," Santos told El Espectador newspaper.

Before the demobilization, the FARC will convene its leaders and troops one last time before transforming into “a legal political movement,” according to a statement published on Saturday.

On October 2, Colombians will go to the polls to cast ballots in a referendum that Santos hopes will endorse the peace agreement.

“A victory for the 'Yes' vote will be a mandate from citizens for future governments,” Santos was quoting as saying by El Espectador.

“The plebiscite will grant the political legitimacy that is needed.”

He said the exact question that will be posed to voters in the referendum would be announced “in the coming days.”

“We are on the verge of perhaps the most important political decision of our lives,” Santos said in a speech on Saturday.

The territorial and ideological conflict has drawn in various left- and right-wing armed groups and gangs.

It has left some 260,000 dead, 45,000 missing and 6.9 million people uprooted from their homes.

Efforts to launch peace talks with a smaller rebel group, the National Liberation Army, have yet to bear fruit.

But with the country's biggest rebel group, the FARC, ordering a definitive ceasefire, the conflict appears to be reaching an end.

“To the soldiers, naval personnel and air force pilots, police and state security and intelligence agencies, we wish to express our clear and definite will for reconciliation,” said Jimenez, known by the nom-de-guerre Timochenko, in Havana.

“Rivalries and resentment must remain in the past. Today more than ever we regret that so much death and pain has been caused by the war. Today more than ever we wish to embrace them as compatriots and start to work together for a new Colombia.” © AFP, 2016 </s> Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced Saturday evening on Twitter that he has "great news for the country" and would be addressing the nation at 8 p.m. ET.

Meanwhile, one of the chief negotiators of the FARC guerrilla movement, Ivan Marquez, tweeted, "The new peace accord is the victory for Colombia."

That tweet was followed by one from the leader of FARC, Timoleón Jiménez -- known by his nom de guerre "Timochenko" -- who wrote, "At this moment, delegation chiefs from the government and FARC are signing final agreement."

US Secretary of State John Kerry issued a statement saying, "I want to congratulate the government and people of Colombia on achieving a revised peace agreement."

A peace deal negotiated earlier this year with FARC rebels was unexpectedly defeated by Colombian voters in October. Many were angered by what they saw as insufficient punishment for those who perpetrated a litany of crimes against their people. Negotiations for a peace deal continued after the defeat. "President Santos and his negotiating team, those from the 'No' campaign, and other important sectors of Colombian society deserve credit for engaging in a far-reaching and respectful national dialogue following the plebiscite," Kerry said. He said the United States will "support full implementation of the final peace agreement." </s> BOGOTA: An historic ceasefire came into effect in Colombia, ending a 52-year war between FARC rebels and the government and taking a major step toward ending a conflict that has claimed more than 250,000 lives.

The full ceasefire ordered by President Juan Manuel Santos and the head of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Timoleon Jimenez, began at midnight (0500 GMT).

“This August 29 a new phase of history begins for Colombia. We silenced the guns. THE WAR WITH THE FARC IS OVER!” Santos wrote on Twitter one minute later.

A message from the official FARC account at the same time was more restrained: “From this moment on the bilateral and definitive ceasefire begins.”

The government’s chief peace negotiator, Humberto de la Calle, grew visibly emotional at a press conference describing how church bells and sirens had rung out in some of the areas hardest hit by the conflict.

“It was a war against the civilian population, 80 percent of those who died were civilians,” he said.

Sergio Jaramillo, the country’s high commissioner for peace, added: “A lot of human lives are going to be saved with this giant step we are taking today.”

“The morning of peace has dawned,” tweeted the FARC’s chief negotiator, Ivan Marquez.

The ceasefire is the first in which both sides are committed to a definite end to the fighting.

“The ceasefire is really one more seal on the end of the conflict,” said Carlos Alfonso Velazquez, a security expert at the University of La Sabana.

The conflict began in 1964 with the launch of the FARC, a Marxist guerrilla group born out of a peasant uprising. It has left 260,000 dead, 45,000 missing and 6.9 million uprooted from their homes.

To end the war with the FARC for good, Colombians must now vote in an October 2 referendum on the peace accord hammered out in nearly four years of talks in Cuba.

Santos said the exact question that will be put to voters in the referendum would be announced “in the coming days”.

“We are on the verge of perhaps the most important political decision of our lives,” he said in a speech on Saturday.

Colombia’s Congress on Monday approved the plan to call a referendum.

Opinion polls show Colombians are divided ahead of the vote.

Santos’s top rival, former president Alvaro Uribe, is leading a campaign to vote “no” to the peace deal.

“This is not an agreement: this is the state submitting to the proposals of the narco-terrorist group FARC,” Uribe said at a university forum.

He has said a special justice system envisaged for crimes committed during the conflict would give FARC fighters impunity.

“I don’t think we can believe them,” said Felipe Giraldo, a 25-year-old unemployed man in Bogota.

Others have a high personal stake in the vote.

Adelaida Bermudez, 50, hopes it will bring home her daughter, who joined the FARC nine years ago.

“I hope we’ll have peace… so the children come home,” she said in Gaitania, in the central region where the FARC was born.

Santos and Jimenez are due to sign the peace agreement sometime between September 20 and 30 — possibly at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, said Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin.

The end of hostilities will be followed by a six-month demobilization process.

Starting Monday, the FARC’s estimated 7,500 fighters are to go to collection points to surrender their weapons under UN supervision.

Guerrillas who refuse to demobilize and disarm “will be pursued with all the strength of the state forces,” Santos told El Espectador newspaper.

Before the demobilization, the FARC will convene its leaders and troops one last time before transforming into “a legal political movement,” according to a statement published on Saturday.

The territorial and ideological conflict has drawn in various left- and right-wing armed groups and gangs.

Efforts to launch peace talks with a smaller rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), have yet to bear fruit.

But with the FARC ordering a ceasefire, the conflict appears to be reaching an end.

“We wish to express our clear and definite will for reconciliation,” said Jimenez, known by the nom de guerre Timochenko, in Havana.

“Today more than ever we regret that so much death and pain has been caused by the war. Today more than ever we wish to embrace (the military and police) as compatriots and start to work together for a new Colombia.” AFP
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos extends his ceasefire with the FARC rebels through the end of the year.