Colombian president urges FARC rebels to return child soldiers

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Thursday urged the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas to return all child soldiers to their families, after the rebel group pledged not to take in minors any more.

"Today FARC unilaterally announced that it will not recruit children under 17 years, which is a step in the right direction. However, this is not enough," said Santos in the southwestern city of Florencia.

"There is nothing more cruel than take a child into war. There is nothing that destroys the moral base of a society so badly as to teach our children to kill, to hate," the Colombian president added.

Santos also referred to the government's two-year-old peace talks with FARC in Havana.

"I told them that what we are doing in Havana silences guns, and hopefully we will get to silence them as soon as possible. But peace is beyond that. We have to sow peace everyday in our hearts. Peace with ourselves, with our family, and with our communities."

Colombian Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon said Wednesday that FARC is hornoring its commitment to a cease-fire it unilaterally declared last December, but it continues to recruit children, carry out extortion and drug trafficking. Endi