Ceasefire for poll in Colombia

Colombian ELN rebels yesterday announced a unilateral ceasefire for this weekend, when a presidential runoff vote is being held.

The halt in military operations runs from Friday June 15 to midnight Tuesday June 19, the National Liberation Army said.

Hardline conservative candidate Ivan Duque won the first round of the presidential elections and is favourite to defeat leftist Gustavo Petro in the runoff.

Duque has vowed to rewrite a peace deal reached in 2016 with the larger Farc guerrilla group. He believes the deal is too lenient. – AFP