Colombian gov't, ELN discuss extending cease fire as deadline looms

QUITO, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Colombia's government and National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group on Tuesday negotiated the possibility of extending a cease fire agreement set to expire at midnight.

Representatives of both groups -- which have been holding talks in Quito, Ecuador, towards a definitive peace deal -- said they were willing to extend the 101-day cease fire that took effect on Oct. 1, 2017.

"One of our main objectives now is to maintain and prolong the bilateral cease fire," the host country's Foreign Affairs minister, Maria Fernanda Espinoza, told foreign correspondents in Quito.

"Fortunately, both the Colombian government and the ELN have the political will and decision to extend the agreement," said Espinoza, adding "that is a fundamental and central part of the fifth round of dialogue that is starting today."

On Saturday, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said, "We are more than willing to extend the cease fire with the ELN and renegotiate the conditions of a new truce."

Espinoza said the two sides also want to assess how the original cease fire agreement has been implemented in the past months.

According to English-language news website Colombia Reports, "more than 10 incidents a month" marred the original cease fire.

The ELN agreed to dialogue with the government after Colombia's largest guerrilla group, the FARC, successfully negotiated a peace deal with Santos' administration that led to their renouncing armed conflict and joining politics. Enditem