Colombia's FARC rebels not to accept any peace deal with jail terms

Colombian rebels negotiating a peace deal with the government said Tuesday they would reject any accord that entailed prison terms for their fighters.

A delegate representing the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) insurgent group at the talks being held in Havana, Cuba, said the leftist rebels had broken no law by taking up arms to fight against an unjust government.

"An arrangement contemplating even a single day in jail for any guerrilla member is not an option," said Ricardo Tellez, a member of the FARC delegation, reading from a prepared statement.

He added the fighters had "exercised the right to rebel .. to put an end to the injustices our people have suffered."

Since late 2012, the guerrillas and the government have been negotiating the terms of an eventual peace accord to end the fighting, which over a period of five decades has claimed the lives of more than 220,000 and displaced some 5.5 million people.

Among the complex issues on the agenda are agrarian reform and land redistribution, reparation for victims of the fighting, the FARC's ties to drug trafficking, the mechanism for laying down arms and the rebels' transition to civilian life, including forming a political party or movement.

In recent days, there has been a push for the rebels to be tried for "war crimes and crimes against humanity."

On Friday, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan warned that the Hague-based International Criminal Court could intervene "if justice is not imparted to the victims."

In response, the FARC's Tellez countered that it is not the rebels who "have enjoyed impunity throughout the Colombian conflict, but the oligarchy, the ruling politicians and the military."

In Madrid, Spain, visiting Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos told Spanish daily El Pais that "there are going to be people who want tougher justice and others who will say, 'Don't try me for any crimes because I don't deserve this - I was a rebel; this was my ideology.'"

FARC may also face the United States' demand to extradite some of its members for drug-trafficking and other crimes, but Santos said he would "look for a solution to this" with Washington.

"In the long run, justice cannot serve as an obstacle to peace, " said Santos, noting that he had never seen the FARC so committed to finding ways to end the conflict, but he cannot guarantee that there will be a peace deal, according to El Pais.

"We are heading toward the end of the conflict but the most difficult part remains, and sometimes processes break at the most difficult points," Santos said.

The peace process has been held in Havana since November 2012, with the support of Cuba and Norway, and the "accompaniment" of Chile and Venezuela. The two sides have reached at least partial agreements on the issues of drugs, agrarian reform and the political participation of the rebels. Endite