Colombia to sign truce with last guerrillas

Colombia’s government will sign a bilateral ceasefire with the nation’s last remaining major rebel group before the Pope’s visit this week, President Juan Manuel Santos said.

Negotiators from the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group said they had already agreed a temporary ceasefire with the government.

The deal, whose details were being ironed out yesterday, will take effect on 1 October and run until 12 January, when it can be renewed if the two sides agree, Mr Santos said.

“The Pope is arriving amid a unique moment in our history, as we turn the page on an absurd conflict and look to the future with hope,” the president said in a televised address.

The ceasefire, which comes five years after the signing of a framework agreement that kicked off ultimately successful talks with the much larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, could be a major step towards securing a lasting peace.