FAARC DEAL ENDS 52-YEAR COLOMBIA WAR

Bogota, Colombia, Aug. 29: A permanent cease-fire is taking effect in Colombia on Monday, the latest step in bringing an end to 52 years of bloody combat between the government and the country’s biggest rebel group.

The commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia announced on Monday that his fighters would cease hostilities beginning at 12:01 a.m. as a result of the peace accord the two sides reached at midweek.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos made a similar announcement on Friday, saying the military would halt attacks on the FARC beginning Monday.

FARC leader Rodrigo Londono made his announcement in Havana, where rebel and government negotiators talked for four years to reach the deal on ending one of the world’s longest-running conflicts. “Never again will parents be burying their sons and daughters killed in the war,” Londono said.

Colombia is expected to hold a national referendum on October 2 to give voters the chance to approve the accord, which will end violence that has claimed more than 220,000 lives. — AP