UN chief, Colombian FM meet on progress on peace talks

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin on Monday discussed progress on the peace talks in the Latin American country, a UN spokesman said here.

"The secretary-general commended Foreign Minister Holguin's personal commitment to the Colombian peace process," Stephane Dujarric told reporters. "They discussed progress on the peace talks and regional developments."

Meanwhile, the secretary-general welcomed the foreign minister's commitment to participate in the World Humanitarian Summit, which will be held on May 23-24 in Istanbul, Turkey, the spokesman added.

On Jan. 25, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution to establish a political mission to monitor the ongoing peace process in Colombia, which aims to end the 50-year-long conflict between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas.

Ban hailed the resolution unanimously adopted by the 15-nation council, saying that he was "pleased by the strong commitment they have shown to the peaceful resolution of the armed conflict in Colombia."

On March 30, the UN chief welcomed the announcement of the launching of peace talks between the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN), the second largest guerrilla group in the Latin American country. The ELN has been existing in Colombia since 1964.

The Colombian government has held several rounds of peace talks with the FARC since November 2012.

So far, the two sides have reached consensus on land and rural development, political participation for former rebels, combating drugs and narcotics trafficking, and reparations for victims of the conflict. Endite