BOGOTA: Colombia's leftist FARC rebel force formally completed its disarmament process on Monday (Jun 26) to end half a century of war against the state, the United Nations said.

UN monitors "today stored away the entirety of the FARC's registered individual arms," except for some that were exempted for transitional security at demobilisation camps, the body said in a statement.

The disarmament by the roughly 7,000 members of Colombia's biggest rebel group under a 2016 peace accord brings Latin America's oldest civil conflict close to a complete end.

But the process has been blighted by ongoing violence involving other groups.

FARC leader Rodrigo Londono is scheduled to formally conclude the disarmament process at a ceremony with President Juan Manuel Santos in the central town of Mesetas at 1500 GMT on Tuesday.

The UN statement said the FARC had handed over all of its more than 7,000 weapons, excluding "those that under the roadmap will be used for security in the 26 camps" until Aug 1.

Separately, the UN mission is continuing to extract and destroy other weapons and munitions stashed in remote hiding places which the FARC have identified and surrendered to the monitors.

Londono called the disarmament "a historic moment for Colombia," ahead of Monday's UN announcement. "The laying down of arms is an act of will, courage and hope," he wrote on Twitter.

Santos said last week that the event "changes the history of Colombia." "The FARC, the most powerful and oldest guerrilla force in Latin America, will cease to exist," he said in a speech in Paris.

The former fighters are now due to make the transition into civilian life. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) will transform into a political party.

Weapons "fulfilled a function at one time, but today we are making a political decision and we no longer need them," senior FARC commander Mauricio Jaramillo told AFP.

The accord, first signed in November, was initially narrowly rejected by Colombians in a referendum before being redrafted and pushed through congress.

Critics said it was too lenient on FARC members, some of whom will get amnesties or reduced sentences for crimes in the conflict.

Colombia's civil conflict erupted in 1964 over land rights. It drew in leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitary groups and state forces.

It has left 260,000 people confirmed dead, more than 60,000 missing and seven million displaced.

Santos says he wants to seal a "complete peace" by reaching a deal with the country's last active rebel group, the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN).

The ELN started talks with the government this year, though it has been blamed for ongoing confrontations with state forces.

It kidnapped two Dutch journalists on Jun 19 and freed them five days later.

Officials say remnants of right-wing paramilitary groups are also fighting the ELN in rural areas for control of the drug trade that has fuelled the conflict.

Three women were killed in a bombing at a crowded shopping center in Bogota on Jun 17. That was blamed on a fringe extremist group, the Revolutionary People's Movement (MRP). </s> Rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, build a stage for the next day's ceremony that will commemorate the completion of the rebels' disarmament process, at the Mariana Paez demobilization zone, one of many rural camps where rebel fighters are making their transition to civilian life, in Buenavista, Colombia, Monday, June 26, 2017. (Photo | AP)

BOGOTA: Colombia's leftist FARC rebel force formally completed its disarmament process on Monday to end half a century of war against the state, the United Nations said.

UN monitors "today have the entirety of the FARC's registered individual arms stored away," except for some that were exempted for transitional security at demobilisation camps, the body said in a statement.

The disarmament by the roughly 7,000 members of Colombia's biggest rebel group under a 2016 peace accord brings Latin America's oldest civil conflict close to a complete end.

FARC leader Rodrigo Londono is scheduled to formally conclude the disarmament process at a ceremony with President Juan Manuel Santos in the central town of Mesetas at 1500 GMT on Tuesday.

The UN statement said the FARC had handed over all of its more than 7,000 weapons, excluding "those that under the roadmap will be used for security in the 26 camps" until August 1.

Separately, the UN mission is continuing to extract and destroy other weapons and munitions stashed in remote hiding places which the FARC have identified and surrendered to the monitors.

The former fighters are now due to make the transition into civilian life. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) will transform into a political party.

The accord, first signed in November, was initially narrowly rejected by Colombians in a referendum before being redrafted and pushed through congress.

Critics said it was too lenient on FARC members, some of whom will get amnesties or reduced sentences for crimes in the conflict.

The move is a key part of efforts to end the conflict completely.

The last active rebel force, the National Liberation Army (ELN), has started talks with the government in Bogota, but has been blamed for continuing confrontations with state forces. </s> 53 years after its first combat, Colombia’s oldest and largest rebel group, the FARC, have completed its disarmament process, the United Nations announced Monday.

According to the United Nations, the FARC’s approximately 7,000 demobilized guerrillas have surrendered 7,132 arms.

The weapons are now stored in UN-controlled containers located in the 26 demobilization, disarmament and reintegration (DDR) camps where the guerrillas where the guerrillas have been staying since September last year.

President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC leader Rodrigo Londoño, known by his nom-de-guerre “Timochenko” are expected to attend a ceremony on Tuesday to celebrate the successful disarmament of the country’s longest-living guerrilla group.

The only weapons left in hands of FARC members are those in the hands of guards maintaining security in these camps. Also these weapons should be surrendered to the UN before the agreed deadline of August 1.

All other guerrillas that have handed in their weapons have received certificates, allowing them to take part in reintegration programs.

Apart from the disarmament of the guerrillas, the UN, the FARC and state forces have removed or detonated 77 of approximately 900 weapons caches hidden in the jungles and mountains of Colombia where the FARC used to be active, the international organization said.

Some 1,600 FARC militia members, not all of whom were armed, have also reported at the camp to receive a certificate they are now no longer a member of an illegal armed group.

Guerrillas who have deserted or militias members who have failed to report themselves will no longer be able to take part in the peace process and will be targeted by the Colombian security forces.

Of the FARC’s approximately 50 fronts, six have refused to take part in the peace process. The dissident groups are primarily active in the coca-rich south and southwest of the country.

These are the FARC dissident groups Colombia’s authorities must confront

With the full disarmament of the FARC’s guerrillas, Colombia’s peace process has successfully finished a historic phase of the country’s ongoing peace process that seeks an and to more than half a century of political violence that has left more than 265,000 Colombians dead, tens of thousands missing and 7 million displaced.

The peace process has been plagued by a number of delays, partly due to government failures to timely facilitate the disarmament and disinformation campaigns by the country’s hard-right opposition, which — like the FARC — is expected to respond for tens of thousands of human rights violations.

Additionally, the process has been stained by the ongoing assassination of social leaders and members of FARC members, and an apparent spoiler attack on a Bogota mall little over a week ago.

The following phase of the peace process includes a transitional justice tribunal that will call an unknown number of FARC guerrillas and militia members, 24,500 state officials and almost 13,000 private individuals and companies to respond for the tens of thousands of war crimes committed by the multiple parties during the armed conflict.

was last modified: by </s> Colombia's leftist FARC rebel force formally completed its disarmament process on Monday to end half a century of war against the state, the United Nations said.

UN monitors "today have the entirety of the FARC's registered individual arms stored away," except for some that were exempted for transitional security at demobilisation camps, the UN said in a statement.

The disarmament by the roughly 7,000 members of Colombia's biggest rebel group under a 2016 peace accord brings Latin America's oldest civil conflict close to a complete end.

FARC leader Rodrigo Londono is scheduled to formally conclude the disarmament process at a ceremony with President Juan Manuel Santos in the central town of Mesetas at 1500 GMT on Tuesday.

READ MORE: Inside an endangered peace community in Colombia

The UN's statement said it had received 7,132 weapons belonging to the rebel fighters, excluding "those that under the roadmap will be used for security in the 26 camps" until August 1.

Separately, the UN mission is continuing to extract and destroy other weapons and munitions stashed in remote hiding places which the FARC have identified and surrendered to the monitors.

The former fighters are now due to make the transition into civilian life. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) will transform into a political party.

The accord, first signed in November, was initially narrowly rejected by Colombians in a referendum before being redrafted and pushed through congress.

Critics said it was too lenient on FARC members, some of whom will get amnesties or reduced sentences for crimes during the conflict.

The move is a key part of efforts to end the conflict completely.

The last major active rebel force, the National Liberation Army (ELN), has started talks with the government in Bogota but has been blamed for continuing confrontations with state forces.

The ELN kidnapped two Dutch journalists on June 19 and freed them five days later.

Officials say remnants of right-wing paramilitary groups are also fighting the ELN in rural areas for control of the drug trade that has fueled the conflict.

OPINION: Why Colombians opposed the peace deal with FARC

Three women were killed in a bombing at a crowded shopping centre in Bogota on June 17. The bombing was blamed on a fringe group, the Revolutionary People's Movement (MRP).

Colombia's civil conflict erupted in 1964 over land rights. It drew in leftist armed groups, right-wing paramilitary groups and state forces.

It has left 260,000 people confirmed dead, more than 60,000 missing and seven million displaced. </s> BOGOTA: Colombia’s leftist FARC rebel force celebrates its disarmament on Tuesday after half a century of war against the state, ending Latin America’s oldest civil conflict.

FARC leader Rodrigo Londono, alias Timochenko, is scheduled to formally conclude the disarmament process at a ceremony with President Juan Manuel Santos in the central town of Mesetas at 1500 GMT.

Part of a 2016 peace deal with the FARC, the move is a key part of efforts to end the conflict. But the process has been blighted by ongoing violence involving other armed groups in recent weeks.

United Nations monitors said they “have the entirety of the FARC’s registered individual arms stored away,” except for some that were exempted for transitional security at demobilization camps until August 1.

Separately, the UN mission is continuing to extract and destroy other weapons and munitions stashed in remote hiding places which the FARC have identified and surrendered to the monitors.

Londono called the disarmament “a historic moment for Colombia,” ahead of Monday’s UN announcement.

“The laying down of arms is an act of will, courage and hope,” he wrote on Twitter.

Santos said last week that the event “changes the history of Colombia.”

“The FARC, the most powerful and oldest guerrilla force in Latin America, will cease to exist,” he said in a speech in Paris.

The former fighters are now due to make the transition into civilian life. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) will transform into a political party.

Weapons “fulfilled a function at one time, but today we are making a political decision and we no longer need them,” senior FARC commander Mauricio Jaramillo told Agence France-Presse.

The accord, first signed in November, was initially narrowly rejected by Colombians in a referendum before being redrafted and pushed through congress.

Critics such as conservative political leader Alvaro Uribe said it was too lenient on FARC members, some of whom will get amnesties or reduced sentences for crimes committed during the conflict.

Colombia’s civil conflict erupted in 1964 over land rights. It drew in leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitary groups and state forces.

It has left 260,000 people confirmed dead, more than 60,000 missing and seven million displaced.

Santos says he wants to seal a “complete peace” by reaching a deal with the country’s last active rebel group, the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN). </s> MESETAS, Colombia: Colombia's leftist FARC rebel force declared its disarmament complete on Tuesday (Jun 27) after half a century of war against the state, bringing Latin America's oldest civil conflict close to an end.

"Farewell to war. Farewell to arms, welcome to peace!" said commander Rodrigo Londono, alias Timochenko, in a speech in the central town of Mesetas, site of one of the group's demobilisation camps.

"Today, we are not letting Colombia down. Today, we are laying down our weapons."

The move is a key part of efforts to end the long territorial and ideological conflict under a 2016 peace accord.

The accord was at first narrowly rejected by Colombians in a referendum last year before it was redrafted and pushed through congress.

Since then, the process has been blighted by ongoing violence involving other armed groups.

United Nations monitors said on Monday they "have the entirety of the FARC's registered individual arms stored away."

That excluded some arms that were exempted for transitional security at rebel demobilisation camps until Aug 1.

Separately, the UN mission is destroying other weapons and munitions stashed in remote hiding places which the FARC have surrendered to the monitors.

Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for helping forge the accord, said "the peace is real and irreversible," in a speech following Timochenko's.

"Today ... is a special day that we will never forget, the day when we swapped weapons for words," he said. "The laying down of arms is a symbol of the new country that we can be."

The former fighters are now due to make the transition into civilian life. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) will transform into a political party after a congress in August.

Critics such as conservative political leader Alvaro Uribe said the peace accord was too lenient on FARC members.

Some of them will get amnesties or reduced sentences for crimes committed during the conflict.

The FARC and the government have promised to stamp out the drug production that has fueled the conflict.

The state promised to develop alternative sources of revenue for growers of coca, the raw ingredient of cocaine.

The FARC launched its uprising in 1964 to fight for land rights and protection for poor rural communities.

The conflict drew in leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitary groups and state forces.

It has left 260,000 people confirmed dead, more than 60,000 missing and seven million displaced.

The FARC has pledged to use its assets to compensate victims.

The accord promises land and credit lines for rural communities, with millions of dollars of investment.

"It marks the end of the main guerrilla group in the western hemisphere," said Jorge Restrepo, director of the conflict analysis centre CERAC.

"It marks the beginning of the post-conflict period ... and of a difficult process of reconciliation in the country."

Santos says he wants to seal a "complete peace" by reaching a deal with the country's last active rebel group, the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN), which has some 1,500 members.

The ELN started talks with the government in February, but has been blamed for ongoing confrontations with state forces.

It kidnapped two Dutch journalists on Jun 19 and freed them five days later.

Officials say remnants of right-wing paramilitary groups are also fighting the ELN for control of the drug trade.

Three women were killed in a bombing at a crowded shopping center in Bogota on Jun 17. That was blamed on a fringe extremist group, the Revolutionary People's Movement (MRP). </s> Colombia's leftist FARC rebel force celebrates its disarmament on Tuesday after half a century of war against the state, ending Latin America's oldest civil conflict.

FARC leader Rodrigo Londono, alias Timochenko, is scheduled to formally conclude the disarmament process at a ceremony with President Juan Manuel Santos in the central town of Mesetas at 1500 GMT.

Part of a 2016 peace deal with the FARC, the move is a key part of efforts to end the conflict. But the process has been blighted by ongoing violence involving other armed groups in recent weeks.

United Nations monitors said they "have the entirety of the FARC's registered individual arms stored away," except for some that were exempted for transitional security at demobilization camps until August 1.

Separately, the U.N. mission is continuing to extract and destroy other weapons and munitions stashed in remote hiding places which the FARC have identified and surrendered to the monitors.

Londono called the disarmament "a historic moment for Colombia," ahead of Monday's U.N. announcement.

"The laying down of arms is an act of will, courage and hope," he wrote on Twitter.

Santos said last week that the event "changes the history of Colombia."

"The FARC, the most powerful and oldest guerrilla force in Latin America, will cease to exist," he said in a speech in Paris.

The former fighters are now due to make the transition into civilian life. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) will transform into a political party.

Weapons "fulfilled a function at one time, but today we are making a political decision and we no longer need them," senior FARC commander Mauricio Jaramillo told AFP.

The accord, first signed in November, was initially narrowly rejected by Colombians in a referendum before being redrafted and pushed through congress.

Critics such as conservative political leader Alvaro Uribe said it was too lenient on FARC members, some of whom will get amnesties or reduced sentences for crimes committed during the conflict.

Colombia's civil conflict erupted in 1964 over land rights. It drew in leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitary groups and state forces.

It has left 260,000 people confirmed dead, more than 60,000 missing and seven million displaced.

Santos says he wants to seal a "complete peace" by reaching a deal with the country's last active rebel group, the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN).

The ELN started talks with the government in February, but has been blamed for ongoing confrontations with state forces.

The ELN kidnapped two Dutch journalists on June 19 and freed them five days later.

Officials say remnants of right-wing paramilitary groups are also fighting the ELN in rural areas for control of the drug trade that has fueled the conflict.

Three women were killed in a bombing at a crowded shopping center in Bogota on June 17. That was blamed on a fringe extremist group, the Revolutionary People's Movement (MRP). </s> A rebel of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, stands guard at the Mariana Paez demobilization zone, one of many rural camps where rebel fighters are making their transition to civilian life, in Buenavista, in the municipality of Mesetas, Colombia. (Photo | AP)

MESETAS: The leader of Colombia's leftist FARC rebels formally declared the force's historic disarmament complete on Tuesday at a ceremony to mark the end of the UN-supervised process.

"Today, we are not letting Colombia down. Today, we are laying down our weapons," said commander Rodrigo Londono, alias Timochenko, in a speech in the central town of Mesetas, site of one of the group's demobilization camps.

"Farewell to arms, welcome to peace!"

The move, part of a 2016 peace deal, is a key part of efforts to end the long territorial and ideological conflict.

But the process has been blighted by ongoing violence involving other armed groups in recent weeks.

United Nations monitors said on Monday they "have the entirety of the FARC's registered individual arms stored away."

That excluded some arms that were exempted for transitional security at demobilization camps until August 1.

Separately, the UN mission is continuing to extract and destroy other weapons and munitions stashed in remote hiding places which the FARC have identified and surrendered to the monitors.

The former fighters are now due to make the transition into civilian life. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) will transform into a political party after a congress in August.

The peace accord, first signed in November, was at first narrowly rejected by Colombians in a referendum before it was redrafted and pushed through congress.

Critics such as conservative political leader Alvaro Uribe said it was too lenient on FARC members, some of whom will get amnesties or reduced sentences for crimes committed during the conflict.

The FARC launched its uprising in 1964 over land rights for poor rural communities.

The conflict drew in leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitary groups and state forces.

It has left 260,000 people confirmed dead, more than 60,000 missing and seven million displaced. </s> The demobilization deadline for Colombia’s largest rebel group FARC has been extended to January 10 as the government has failed to set up the camps where guerrillas are meant to hand in their weapons.

The FARC was supposed to demobilize more than 16,000 people before new year’s eve as part of a peace deal to end 52 years of armed conflict.

However, the encampments that are to supposed to shelter the former guerrillas in many cases were never prepared for undisclosed reasons.

According to Medellin newspaper El Colombiano, of the five planned demobilization and disarmament camps in the Antioquia province, only one is ready. The other four do not yet exist.

“At the site where I am nothing has been done. Nothing. It’s a field and some cows,” Dutch FARC member Tanja Nijmeijer told Colombia Reports from the southwestern Cauca province where she is staying in a provisional pre-demobilization site with fellow rebels.

After weeks of claiming FARC guerrillas were moving into the so-called ZVTN sites, the administration of President Juan Manuel Santos was forced to implicitly admit on Wednesday that it had failed to prepare most these sites.

The monitoring commission consisting of a government, a FARC and a United Nations representative announced they agreed to delay the demobilization that was initially scheduled to take place in the first week of October.

“To continue the work of preparing the terrains and the construction of camps, civilian workers contracted by the government will arrive at nine sites on December 31,” said the three-party commission.

The FARC’s 180-day demobilization and disarmament process is part of a major, 10-year national peace process that seeks to end more than 52 years of violence that has left more than 8 million victims.

While the guerrilla group transforms to become a Marxist political party, the government is set to embark on a series of political and rural reforms aimed at removing what are considered the main causes of the conflict, rural inequality and political exclusion.

Meanwhile, a transitional justice system for both guerrillas and members of the military is put in place to seek truth and justice over the mass victimization of Colombians.

Apart from the 16,600 FARC members, some 24,400 (former) state officials and 12,500 civilians who are either convicted or formally charged with war crimes will appear before this system.

The process is broadly supported in Congress with the exception of the Democratic Center party of former President Alvaro Uribe, who like the current president, is facing numerous war crime charges.

But Colombian society is strongly divided and agitated over the process that seeks to end a war the majority of Colombians were born in and, rather than in victory or defeat, ended in compromises that for many are hard to swallow.

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The United Nations confirms that the FARC has completed its disarmament process, with former rebels due to make the transition to civilian life and the group to transform into a legal political party in the country.