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Colombia rebels in Cuba
for talks
BBC
News, UK, 13 December
2005.
Members of Colombia's second-largest rebel
group have arrived in the Cuban capital
to hold preliminary peace talks with the
Colombian government.
A spokesman for the left-wing ELN said
the meeting in Havana represented a big
step in the search for peace.
The aim of the talks is to pave the way
for a fully-fledged process to end the long-running
conflict in Colombia.
A similar attempt in Cuba two years ago
collapsed after a failure to agree on a
framework for negotiations.
Rebel representatives from the National
Liberation Army (ELN) and the Colombian
authorities will hold several preparatory
meetings throughout the week, ahead of the
opening of formal exploratory talks on Friday.
Diplomats from Spain, Norway and Sweden
are expected to attend.
The ELN and the larger Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (Farc) have been involved
in a 40-year conflict with state forces
and right-wing fighters.
'Convinced'
The government delegation is led by the
country's high commissioner for peace, Luis
Carlos Restrepo.
Mr Restrepo is expected to meet a number
of leading ELN members, including the group's
military commander, Antonio Garcia.
"We are convinced of the importance
of this moment for the country to search
for peace", ELN spokesman Francisco
Galan told a news conference.
Galan is serving a 30-year sentence for
rebellion, terrorism and kidnapping.
But the government allowed him to leave
jail for three months in September in the
hope that he would convince the rebels to
begin talks.
The ELN has been active since 1964 and
is believed to have 4,000 members.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has already
started a peace process with the country's
main right-wing paramilitary group, the
United Self Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC).
Earlier this week, at least 2,000 combatants
and a key leader of an AUC faction surrendered
their weapons.
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