Colombia's government rebuffs rebel truce
Colombia's government has rebuffed a unilateral truce declared by the country's largest rebel group, saying conditions demanded by the guerrillas' are unacceptable until a peace deal is reached.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia on Wednesday said they would lay down their weapons for an unlimited period to bolster peace talks that have been held in Cuba for the past two years.
But Latin America's oldest and strongest insurgency also said it would call off the cease-fire if their units were attacked by Colombia's US-backed military -- a condition that appears to have doomed the gesture given the government's longstanding refusal to enter a bilateral truce out of fear it would give the rebels an opportunity to re-arm.
Those concerns were again apparent Thursday when President Juan Manuel Santos said he couldn't accept the rebels' demand the truce be verified by several Latin American nations and the international Red Cross. Such outside verification would have to wait until a deal to end a half century of hostilities is reached, he said in a statement.
