FARC to fully disarm in 180 days: Colombia

The FARC guerrilla movement will fully disarm within 180 days and its members will embrace civilian life to form a political party, the Colombian government has announced.

General Javier Florez, commander of the Strategic Transition Command, confirmed at a press conference on Tuesday that the timeline to disarm the country's largest rebel group was proceeding well, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Ninety per cent of the grouped FARC are within 10 km of each zone. 10 per cent are moving towards sites very close to the ZVTN (transition zones)," he said.

The government led by President Juan Manuel Santos recently signed a peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to end five decades of fighting.

On Tuesday, FARC commander-in-chief Timoleon Jimenez said FARC fighters have begun "concentration in several regions of the country without major mishaps."

In another development, the UN mission in Colombia last week fired a supervisor and three observers after they celebrated a year-end party with FARC guerrillas.

The decision was taken after various media published pictures of the party, where UN members could be seen dancing with FARC members.

This led Colombia to ask the UN to maintain the neutrality of their verification mission in transition zones.

--IANS

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