FARC and Colombia Govt Will Not Abandon Peace, Continue Talks

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FARC and Colombia Govt Will Not Abandon Peace, Continue Talks

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7 October 2016

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As they continue discussions, both parties say the peace agreement contains the necessary measures to end the decades-long armed conflict.

The Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, have pledged to continue working together on the peace process, the two sides said in an official statement Friday.

Both parties have agreed to discuss the peace agreement and take into account the voices of different sectors of society in order to address their concerns and include them in the reforms to the agreement.

They added that that the peace agreement already contains the necessary measures and reforms to lay the foundation of peace and end more than five decades of armed conflict as they make adjustments to address public concerns.

The announcement comes as both, the government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the guerrillas hang in the balance after Colombians' surprise rejection of the deal in a referendum on Sunday.

"We reiterate the commitment made by the president of the republic and the commander of the FARC-EP to maintain the bilateral and defitinitive cease-fire and end to hostilities decreed on Aug. 29, as well as the three-party monitoring and verification system," said Humberto de la Calle, the Colombian government's chief negotiator at peace talks.

The document also details a protocol to prevent incidents in the guerrilla-controlled areas and to ensure a climate of security and tranquility for the “full implementation” of all rules governing the existing cease-fire agreement.

According to the statement, the representatives of both sides, who are meeting in Havana, have asked the United Nations secretary-general and the Security Council to authorize the United Nations Mission in Colombia to continue the work of monitoring and verification.