UN offers to verify ceasefire in Colombia

Bogota, Dec 19 (IANS/EFE) The UN has the willingness and the experience to oversee a ceasefire in Colombia if the parties involved so request it, UN representative in Colombia Fabrizio Hochschild has said.

"The United Nations has the competency," Hochschild told reporters Thursday in reference to the indefinite unilateral ceasefire announced by the leftist rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) this week in Havana at the end of the last round of peace negotiations this year.

The ceasefire will take effect Saturday.

The rebel group has said that the ceasefire must lead to a truce, warning that it would be terminated if it was found that the guerrillas have been attacked by security forces.

In addition, the FARC has asked that the Union of South American Nations, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Broad Front for Peace oversee the ceasefire.

In his statement, Hochschild also referred to the 60 surviving victims of Colombia's 50-year-old armed conflict who have been participating in the negotiations between the government and the FARC in the last few months.

The official said that the decision to declare the ceasefire was inspired by the victims who called for acts of peace to ease the intensity of the armed conflict and advocated a bilateral truce while negotiations continue.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos welcomed the indefinite unilateral ceasefire on Thursday while rejecting the conditions laid down by the guerrillas such as international verification.

Hochschild expressed his hope that with these peace gestures the end of the conflict could finally become a reality.

He also urged both sides to take advantage of the opportunity to pursue a lasting peace and not allow pessimism, negativity and scepticism to throw them off course.

--IANS/EFE

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