Colombian govt, FARC rebels launch new peace talks

HURDAL, Norway - Negotiators for the Colombian government and the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on Thursday formally launched a new round of peace talks.

Five negotiators from each side of the conflict one representative from each of the supporting countries - Norway, Cuba, Venezuela and Chile -attended the press conference in Hurdal, some 80 kilometers north of Oslo.

The Colombian government's chief negotiator Humberto de la Calle and his FARC counterpart Ivan Marquez both expressed their willingness to achieve peace through dialogue and bring an end to nearly 50 years of armed conflict in Colombia, the longest in South America.

The negotiators agreed to conduct the second phase of the current round of peace talks in Havana, capital of Cuba, on Nov 15. The main issue for those discussions will be agrarian reform.

Other issues include political participation by FARC, the end of drug trafficking, victims' rights and logistics for stopping the conflict, in which over 5 million people have been displaced.

Two previous peace attempts between the Colombian government and FARC, in 1984 and 1998-2002, failed.

Marquez said he and his comrades came to Norway with an olive branch. However, the leader of the FARC delegation added, "We will not allow this process to be hijacked by capitalists who want to enrich themselves in a country where 75 percent of the population lives in poverty."

Meanwhile, de la Calle, Colombia's former vice-president, said he was moderately optimistic about the prospect of the new peace talks and that he hoped a lasting peace with the rebel group could be brought about through negotiation.

"Both sides have done a good job in reopening negotiations," said de la Calle.

Tone Allers, Director for peace and reconciliation in the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, said the talks marked "the beginning of a long process".

The delegations that arrived in Oslo on Wednesday are scheduled to return on Friday.

Members of the negotiatiang teams attend a news conference in Hurdal, North of Oslo, Norway, Oct 18, 2012. A new round of peace talks started Thursday in Hurdal between the Colombian government and the country's largest rebel group, known as FARC. [Photo/Xinhua]