BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos on Thursday extended his ceasefire with Marxist FARC rebels through the end of the year as he seeks to revive a peace accord to end five decades of war after voters rejected the hard-fought deal in a referendum.

Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos speaks to guests after receiving the Clinton Global Citizen Award in New York, U.S., September 19, 2016. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo

The original ceasefire, which was put in place in August, was nullified when the peace accord was rejected in plebiscite earlier this month. He had already extended it to Oct. 31.

The decision comes as Santos and his team hear proposals from representatives of those who voted against the accord - rejected by a razor-thin margin of less than half a percentage point - as too lenient on the Marxist rebels.

He will take the proposals to the FARC leadership in Havana, who have said they are willing to discuss new ideas.

Santos said he decided to extend the ceasefire further after meeting with student leaders who had organized two huge marches through Bogota to show support for a peace accord.

“One of the students reminded me, that in the army and in the guerrilla ranks, there are young people waiting to see what happens, hoping that they don’t need to fire another shot,” Santos said in a televised address.

“For that reason, and at the request of the students, I have taken the decision to extend the ceasefire until Dec. 31.”

The ceasefire can be extended further, but Santos said he hopes a new deal is approved long before then. Santos won the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for his efforts to end the war.

Led by hardline former President Alvaro Uribe, the “No” side wants rebels who have committed war crimes to be confined for five to eight years - possibly on agricultural farms - and banned from elected office.

They were outraged that the accord offered 10 congressional seats and non-traditional sentences like clearing landmines instead of prison cells in return for ending a conflict that has killed more than 220,000 people.

Although the FARC leadership has said it is willing to hear new ideas, Uribe’s proposals may be difficult to accept, given they have repeatedly refused to consider jail time and want to form a political party.</s>BOGOTA: Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said a ceasefire with the country’s FARC guerillas has been extended until December 31 but that he hopes to have “a new agreement” for peace before that date.

“I have made the decision to extend the bilateral ceasefire until December 31. Let this be clear: This is not an ultimatum nor a deadline, but I hope that the entire process of obtaining a new agreement will be complete well before then,” the president said in a televised address.

The announcement came as Santos held fresh meetings with the opposition and members of the public, seeking a solution to the political fallout caused by voters who rejected the peace accord negotiated between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the government.

Santos — who has staked his legacy on making peace — had previously said that the army would halt its ceasefire at the end of this month if no solution to the impasse was found by then.

The FARC, which had criticized Santos’ deadline, has also confirmed its willingness to continue negotiations and maintain a bilateral ceasefire.

Santos said he made the decision to extend the ceasefire after a student at one of the meetings told him that “in the army and among the guerrillas there are young people who are aware of what is happening, who hope not to have to return to shooting.”

In his address Santos urged Colombians to “achieve forever an end to the violence, the return of the displaced to their homes.”

The Colombian leader won the Nobel Peace Prize just a few days after voters shot down the historic accord in a referendum that would have ended more than 52 years of conflict.

The prize appeared to encourage the peacemakers.

Since the accord’s rejection, Santos has held marathon talks with political figures including the country’s former president Alvaro Uribe — who led opposition to the agreement — as well as religious leaders and victims of the armed conflict.

The government on Thursday also welcomed the leader of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, who urged Colombian leaders to commit to reaching a “prompt and urgent solution” to swiftly implement a peace agreement with the FARC. AFP</s>The ceasefire was due to expire at the end of October. Santos has extended it as he tries to breathe new life into a peace deal that was rejected by Colombians in a referendum earlier this month.

"I have made the decision to extend the bilateral ceasefire until the December 31," Santos said, according to a state-run news agency.

An estimated 220,000 people have been killed in the conflict which has brought terror, misery and death to generations of Colombians -- and displaced as many as 5 million people.

The armed guerrilla group seized territory, attacked government forces and pulled off high-profile kidnappings. The FARC also hijacked planes and made millions trafficking cocaine, as well as forcing children to become soldiers in its war. FARC soldiers worry about what comes after peace FARC soldiers worry about what comes after peace Last month rebel leaders signed a peace accord with the government which was then narrowly rejected by the people of Colombia in a referendum After that defeat, Santos pledged to press ahead with peace efforts. "I hear those that said 'no' and those that said 'yes' and we all want peace. Colombia take this setback at a bump in the road to peace "Tomorrow we will get all our political parties together to continue dialogues and finding alternatives for peace. I will not give up, I will continue to fight for peace," he said. Santos said in a televised address Thursday that his decision to extend the ceasefire had come at the request of students he met with earlier in the day, the state-run Canal Institucional news agency reported. "In the military, in the guerrillas, there are young people who are waiting, diligently waiting, to see what happens, hoping to never have to shoot again," he said. Although last month's peace deal had overwhelming international support, former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez took a leading role in the campaign against it. He argued that the deal offered impunity to FARC fighters and accused his successor, Santos, of conceding to FARC demands. FARC leader Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri, said the referendum result would not sway former rebels from the path of peace.</s>The original ceasefire, which was put in place in August, was nullified when the peace accord was rejected in plebiscite earlier this month. He had already extended it to Oct. 31.

The decision comes as Santos and his team hear proposals from representatives of those who voted against the accord - rejected by a razor-thin margin of less than half a percentage point - as too lenient on the Marxist rebels.

He will take the proposals to the FARC leadership in Havana, who have said they are willing to discuss new ideas.

Santos said he decided to extend the ceasefire further after meeting with student leaders who had organized two huge marches through Bogota to show support for a peace accord.

"One of the students reminded me, that in the army and in the guerrilla ranks, there are young people waiting to see what happens, hoping that they don't need to fire another shot," Santos said in a televised address.

"For that reason, and at the request of the students, I have taken the decision to extend the ceasefire until Dec. 31."

The ceasefire can be extended further, but Santos said he hopes a new deal is approved long before then. Santos won the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for his efforts to end the war.

Led by hardline former President Alvaro Uribe, the "No" side wants rebels who have committed war crimes to be confined for five to eight years - possibly on agricultural farms - and banned from elected office.

They were outraged that the accord offered 10 congressional seats and non-traditional sentences like clearing landmines instead of prison cells in return for ending a conflict that has killed more than 220,000 people.

Although the FARC leadership has said it is willing to hear new ideas, Uribe's proposals may be difficult to accept, given they have repeatedly refused to consider jail time and want to form a political party.</s>BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — President Juan Manuel Santos announced on Thursday that he is extending a ceasefire with Colombia’s largest rebel movement in a bid to give more time to efforts to save a peace deal rejected by voters.

Santos said in a televised address that he was extending by two months the ceasefire with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia until Dec. 31.

He made the announcement after meeting with students who have been organizing demonstrations across the country to demand the accord be implemented immediately despite it being rejected in a referendum.

“Let it be clear: this isn’t an ultimatum or deadline,” Santos said, adding that he hoped to have an agreement before year’s end. He said the lives of soldiers and guerrillas depended on warfare not resuming. “Time is conspiring against peace and life.”

Santos, winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, is engaged in three-way talks with the FARC and the opposition to find ways to adjust the accord so that it enjoys broader support.

Former President Alvaro Uribe, who led opposition to the accord, is demanding deep changes such as stiffer penalties for rebels who committed war crimes. Meanwhile the rebels, who would be spared jail time under the accord, are insisting they won’t go back to the drawing board and throw out more than four years of arduous negotiations with the government.</s>Londono, known by his nom de guerre Timochenko, said he had met on numerous occasions with government negotiators in Havana to find a way out of the impasse caused by the shock vote on Oct. 2 against the peace accord.

"We must join forces and together apply healing balm to the wounds ... We will have good news soon," Londono, 57, told Caracol Radio by telephone from Cuba.

President Juan Manuel Santos is hearing proposals from representatives of those who voted against the accord, which was rejected by a razor-thin margin of less than half a percentage point, just 54,000 votes.

Led by hardline opposition senator and former President Alvaro Uribe, the "No" side wants leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to lose their freedom for at least five years and be banned from elected office.

They were outraged that the accord offered ten congressional seats instead of prison cells in return for ending a conflict that has killed more than 220,000 people.

Uribe opposed FARC leaders receiving non-traditional sentences like clearing landmines, and instead insisted that those found guilty of war crimes should be confined for between five and eight years, even if they are held on farms.

There have been atrocities committed by all sides in the war - the FARC, the military and right-wing paramilitaries.

Although the FARC has said it is willing to hear new ideas, Uribe's proposals may be difficult for its leadership to accept, given they have repeatedly refused to consider jail time and want to form a political party.

Londono said he respects the views of the No" camp, and even Uribe, whose two terms in office were spent in a fierce offensive against the FARC.

"He represents a large number of Colombians with different political ideas, his discourse was always to defeat us but he was unable to do it in eight years. I respect him as a person."

Londono reiterated the FARC's opposition to renegotiating the justice element of the accord. "It would be crazy," to negotiate that point over again after 18 months of talks about the issue already, he said.

The deal contemplates some loss of freedom for war crimes, but those atrocities would need to be proved, he said.</s>In certain fringes of the press, there has been opposition to awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia. He is accused of being soft on the FARC rebels. Others have remarked on the irony of him being awarded the prestigious prize just days after the Colombian electorate (it would be disingenuous to say the Colombian people, given less than a third voted) rejected the peace deal which would have ended a 52 year old war.

My objection to who won the prize isn’t that the deal was too lenient to the FARC (for the record, I am a Colombian citizen who favoured the peace agreement) or that it was ironical (after all, nearly a century of Nobel peace prizes haven’t ended war, so past laureate’s effort’s efficacy are open to doubt), but to the fact that only President Santos won the prize.

Usually, when the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded for ending a war, the award is shared between the two sides, often with the inclusion of a mediator. In 1998, when the peace in Northern Ireland was celebrated, Catholic John Hume and Protestant Jonathan Trimble won the prize. In 1978, when the Camp David Accords were celebrated, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Mohammed Sadat shared the prize. Yet now, in 2016, when the longest running war in the New World is nearly ended by a landmark peace deal, only one side won the award.

Ending a war is like dancing: you need two parties. In this case, the two parties would be the Colombian government and the FARC, a Marxist-Leninist guerilla group inspired by the exploits of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro which has been fighting the Colombian government since 1964. For the past several years, the government and the FARC have been negotiating in hopes of ending the civil war with the help of Raul Castro, the President of Cuba, who has served as an honest broker between the two sides of the conflict.

Santos was a pivotal partner in this dance of peace. But his own partner was the FARC’s leader, Timoleon Jimenez, better known as Timoshenko. Timoshenko has been the supreme commander of the FARC since 2011. In his term, he has pledged to ensure that the FARC stopped kidnapping and ended its involvement with the drug trade, and has pledged to continue working for peace even after the failed plebiscite.

Raul Castro may not be a Colombian, but he too played a pivotal role in the peace negotiations. Although both Santos and Timoshenko favoured peace, neither could have worked with the other had they not had a mediator. Castro worked handsomely in that role, ensuring that both sides met and not allowing them to leave until they had a workable peace deal.

Of course many more than these three men worked for peace in Colombia, but Nobel rules sadly limit the prize to be shared, at maximum, between three people. And if anyone should’ve won the Nobel for Peace in Colombia, it should be Santos, Timoshenko, and Castro—not Santos alone.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos extends his ceasefire with the FARC rebels through the end of the year.