Colombian, FARC leaders to sign historic peace deal

Members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rest at a camp in Llanos del Yari, Caqueta Department, Colombia, on September 16, 2016 ahead of the 10th National Guerrilla Conference to be held from September 17 to 23, 2016. Government and the rebel leaders will sign a peace accord. PHOTO | AFP

What you need to know:

  • He will sign the accord at 5:00 pm (2200 GMT) with his former enemy, FARC leader Timoleon Jimenez, at a ceremony in the colourful colonial city of Cartagena.

CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA

Colombia’s government and the leftist FARC rebels prepared to sign a historic peace accord Monday to end a half-century civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands.

A solemn ceremony on the Caribbean coast witnessed by international dignitaries will set the seal on a four-year process to end Latin America’s last major armed conflict.

“Today we are experiencing the happiness of a new dawn for Colombia,” President Juan Manuel Santos said on Twitter.

He called it “a new stage in our history — one of a country in peace!”

He will sign the accord at 5:00 pm (2200 GMT) with his former enemy, FARC leader Timoleon Jimenez, at a ceremony in the colourful colonial city of Cartagena, the government said.

Santos opened the day’s events with a tribute to the Colombian military and police.

A prayer service for peace and reconciliation was scheduled later at an 18th-century Catholic church in Cartagena’s old town, led by the Vatican’s Secretary of State Pietro Parolin.

The guests at the signing will include UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, US Secretary of State John Kerry and an array of Latin American leaders.

They include Cuban President Raul Castro, whose country hosted the nearly four-year-long peace talks.