BOGOTA, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Sunday hailed the first agreement reached after six months of negotiations between the government and the FARC guerrilla group to end their five decades of fighting.
"We truly celebrate this fundamental step in Havana towards a full accord to put an end to the half-a-century conflict," Santos said via online social networking site Twitter.
Officials and representatives of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) announced earlier in the day that they had reached an agreement on agrarian reform and rural development, the first of five issues on agenda of the talks.
"We have arrived at an agreement on the first point" of a previously-agreed agenda aimed at ending the fighting, the two delegations said in a joint declaration.
The peace talks will continue "with caution and responsibility," said Santos, who has often criticized the rebels for speaking openly to the press about progress in the negotiations.
Several countries expressed their support for the peace process, the Colombian government's first attempt in about 10 years to broker a peace deal with the armed leftist insurgents.
The joint statement said the next round of talks will begin on June 11 and the two sides will now move on to the second point of the agenda -- political participation -- to enable the rebels to transition from an armed movement to a political movement or party.
Other issues on the agenda include disarmament, compensations for victims in the five decades of fighting and drug trafficking, a trade the rebels have traditionally taxed to raise funds for their movement.
China’s weekly story
(2013.5.18- 5.24)
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