Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Marxist Farc rebel leader Rodrigo London on Thursday signed a revised peace accord, reported Reuters. The new agreement comes after the earlier one was rejected on October 2 by the voters.
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the government worked together in Cuba for four years to end the 52-year-old war which has killed over 2,60,000 people.
Santos who won the Nobel Peace Prize award this year said, “I invite you to leave decades of violence forever in the past, to unite for all of us, for Colombia, for this dear nation, and to work together for reconciliation around shared ideals of peace.”
The new terms, which still assure 10 congressional seats for Farc, also require the group to present a complete inventory of its assets for the purpose of compensating those affected by the civil war. The revised terms also call for the rebel group to provide information about its involvement in the drug trade.
The new treaty would mean that FARC would have to give up arms and move to United Nations disarmament zone within 180 days. Opposition, led by former President Alvaro Uribe, is angry because the new deal allows the FARC leaders to hold political office and they will not be jailed them for having committed crimes.
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