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Colombia, FARC rebels look to fortify ceasefire to protect post-referendum peace talks

As Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end a five-decade civil war, negotiators for his government and FARC — Colombia's largest rebel movement — were taking steps to guarantee a ceasefire doesn't unravel while the two sides work to save a peace accord defeated in last weekend's referendum.

'We are very, very close' to ending civil war, says Nobel Peace Prize-winning president

The Associated Press ·
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, left, and FARC rebel leader Timoleon Jimenez, right, shake hands during a signing ceremony of a ceasefire and rebel disarmament deal in Havana in June as Cuban President Raul Castro looks on. Both sides said Friday they're taking steps to guarantee a ceasefire doesn't unravel while they work together to save a peace accord defeated in a referendum (Ramon Espinosa/Associated Press)

As Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end a five-decade civil war, negotiators for his government and FARC — Colombia's largest rebel movement — were taking steps to guarantee a ceasefire doesn't unravel while the two sides work to save a peace accord defeated in last weekend's referendum.

At a joint press conference Friday in Havana, the two sides read a joint statement in which they pledged to listen to those who voted against the peace deal in order to "define quickly" a solution to the impasse in accordance with a recent constitutional court ruling.

Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos is embraced by his wife Maria Clemencia Rodriguez after speaking to journalists at the presidential palace in Bogota, Colombia, on Friday. (Fernando Vergara/Associated Press)

The statement says: "The proposed adjustments and precisions that come about from this process will be discussed between the government and the FARC to provide guarantees to everyone."

Both sides invited the UN to begin monitoring a ceasefire already in place along the terms established in the accord so that rebel fighters aren't at risk.

'We are very, very close' to peace deal

Santos said he dedicated the Nobel Peace Prize to the people of Colombia, particularly those who "have suffered in this war that we are on the verge of ending."

He said in an interview posted on the Nobel Foundation's Facebook page that the end of the conflict is near.

"We are very, very close. We just need to push a bit further to persevere," he said.

Many had believed the country's rejection of the peace deal in a referendum had quashed his chances of being recognized by the Nobel committee.

FARC leader Rodrigo Londono, better known by his nom de guerre Timochenko, congratulated Santos on Twitter.

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