Colombian FARC rebels mark historic disarmament

Colombia’s leftist FARC rebel force celebrated 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 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 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 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.