Colombian gov't, ELN rebels to restart talks Jan. 12

Colombia's government and National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group will meet on Thursday "to restart talks" towards an eventual peace agreement, local media reported on Sunday.

The talks "will restart Jan. 12 in Quito (Ecuador), after they were postponed until the end of October on the request of the rebels," the Caracol News website said, citing a government official.

The meeting aims to "fix a date for the installation of a public dialogue" between the two sides, Juan Camilo Restrepo, the government's negotiator to talks with the ELN, said in a statement.

The government of President Juan Manuel Santos recently signed a definitive peace deal with the country's largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), to end five decades of fighting.

source: Xinhua