Colombia’s Santos orders definitive ceasefire with FARC

Bogota, Aug 25 (AFP) Colombian President Juan ManuelSantos ordered the army today to observe a definitiveceasefire with the FARC rebels after the two sides reached adeal to end their half-century conflict. "As head of state and commander in chief of our armedforces, I have ordered a definitive ceasefire with the FARCstarting at midnight on Monday, August 29," he said in anaddress from the steps of Congress, where he formallypresented the historic peace deal. "The armed conflict with the FARC has ended," he said toapplause. The ceasefire order came after peace negotiators from theRevolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and theColombian government announced Wednesday they had concluded afinal accord after nearly four years of talks in Cuba. The accord must now be ratified in a referendum on October2 to take effect. The "Yes" camp must win a majority andgather a total of at least 4.4 million votes — 13 percent ofthe electorate. The United Nations, United States and European Union haveall hailed the peace deal. The government is still fighting a smaller rebel group,the National Liberation Army (ELN), whose ongoing kidnappingshave derailed efforts to open peace negotiations. The Colombian conflict has killed an estimated 260,000people, uprooted 6.8 million and left 45,000 missing. (AFP)SUA