Colombian government,
ELN rebels end peace
talks without progress
The Colombian government
and the National
Liberation Army (ELN)
had ended their sixth
round of peace talks in
the Cuban capital of
Havana without any
substantial results, the
ELN said Thursday.
In a statement posted on
the web, the ELN, the
second largest rebel
group in Colombia,
attributed the lack of
progress to the two
sides' unbridgeable
differences and the
government's
"insincerity".
The talks ended in a
"tough atmosphere", the
statement said, adding
that the two sides'
stances and viewpoints
differed and that
distrust still existed
between them.
The ELN blamed the
government for not
intending to sign a
peace deal. The
administration of
President Alvaro Uribe
is holding a war policy
instead of a peace
policy, it said.
The ELN said it wanted
to sign a temporary
agreement to stop
hostility and reach a
ceasefire with the
government. It also
demanded freedom for the
groups' jailed fighters
and other favors from
the government in
return.
There was no immediate
comment from the
Colombian government.
The sixth round of peace
talks began on April 17
this year, but after
more than thee months of
talks, the two sides
still failed to reached
a peace deal.
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