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Colombian government, ELN talks go into fourth day

Xinhua, January 17, 2017 Adjust font size:

The Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) held their fourth day of talks on Monday, seeking to finalize an agreement to begin formal peace negotiations.

The ELN wrote on Twitter that "today is the fourth day of meetings between the two delegations, government and ELN" without providing more details.

Since Friday, the two sides have been holding exploratory meetings in the Ecuadorian city of Ibarra, 120 kilometers north of Quito.

According to the ELN, the conversations have been held in a good environment and are seeking to set a date for the beginning of formal peace negotiations.

The ELN, which took up arms in 1964 and has about 1,500 fighters, is the only active guerrilla group in Colombia, after the peace agreement signed between Bogota and the FARC in November.

Ecuador, which neighbors Colombia, was chosen in October to welcome the public negotiations.

At the time, Ecuador's Foreign Minister said that while the start and close of negotiations would happen in his country, other discussions would happen in Venezuela, Chile, Cuba, Norway and Brazil, all of which are guarantors of the potential peace process. Enditem