Colombian gov't, ELN rebels set date for peace talks

Colombia's government and National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group have agreed to begin peace talks on Feb. 7, the two sides announced on Wednesday.

The delegations issued a joint statement out of Quito, Ecuador, which is hosting the talks, saying Feb. 7 will mark "the start of the official talks for Colombian peace."

Both parties have also agreed to make a goodwill gesture on Feb. 2, in the lead up to the talks, with the ELN liberating former congressman Odin Sanchez Montes de Oca, who rebels seized in April, and the government pardoning two members of the guerrilla group serving prison sentences.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, speaking from Davos, where he is attending an international economic forum, celebrated the announcement, saying "we have an agreement with the ELN."

The government's head negotiator, Juan Camilo Restrepo, said "we have a roadmap, an agenda made public in March 2016, which we hope will lead us to the door of peace."

ELN delegation chief Commander Pablo Beltran said fixing a date "allows us to begin the six-point agenda, which aims to overcome the armed conflict and create the conditions" for peace.

The ELN is Colombia's second-largest guerrilla group, after the FARC, with some 1,500 fighters in 10 of the country's 32 departments, according to the Caracol News network.

The FARC recently concluded nearly four years of negotiations with the government that resulted in a definitive peace deal and a newly-launched process of disarming.

Five decades of fighting between state forces and the leftist rebel groups has led to more than 200,000 deaths, tens of thousands of missing, and displaced millions of people.

source: Xinhua