Colombia to free 30 Marxist Farc rebels from jail

Peace talks between the government and Farc in fourth year in Havana, Cuba

Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos (left): he sent his brother Colombian journalist Enrique Santos  to propose to Farc guerrilla leader Rodrigo Londoño that the peace negotiators in Havana accelerate the peace agreements. Photograph:  EPA/Nelson Cárdenas / Colombian Presidency
Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos (left): he sent his brother Colombian journalist Enrique Santos to propose to Farc guerrilla leader Rodrigo Londoño that the peace negotiators in Havana accelerate the peace agreements. Photograph: EPA/Nelson Cárdenas / Colombian Presidency

Colombia’s government said on Sunday it would free 30 jailed members of the Marxist Farc rebel group as a gesture of goodwill as the two sides negotiate an end to five decades of war.

None of the inmates have been convicted of violent crimes while fighting for Farc, according to a statement from President Juan Manuel Santos’s office.

Peace talks between the government and Farc have entered their fourth year in Havana, Cuba, as the sides work through a complicated five-point agenda.

Santos has said he wants a peace accord signed by March 23rd to end the conflict that has killed more than 220,000 people. – (Reuters)