It followed a seven-hour meeting Monday night in which government negotiators tried to persuade Uribe and other skeptics to support the accord that would put an end to a half-century of fighting with the FARC

Ever since the original deal's defeat at the polls, the FARC and government negotiators have worked around the clock introducing some 50-plus changes to make it more acceptable to conservative Colombians who overwhelmingly despise the FARC

Uribe, a still popular figure who has led opposition to the peace deal, said Tuesday that the changes are cosmetic and that the accord, if implemented, represents a risk for Colombia's democracy because it doesn't go far enough in punishing rebels who committed atrocities. BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos and Marxist FARC rebel leader Rodrigo Londono signed a revised peace accord on Thursday in a far more sober ceremony than a first deal rejected last month by millions at a plebiscite. An original accord ending the half-a-century of conflict was rejected by voters in a referendum last month

This comes less than two months after plebiscite narrowly rejected original deal that took four years to negotiate

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Rodrigo Londono, signed a revised peace agreement here on Thursday. Santos, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last month for his efforts to end the conflict with the insurgent group, wants to get the deal in place as quickly as possible to prevent risk to the fragile bilateral ceasefire. The document is expected to pass after being debated next week, since President Juan Manuel Santos and his allies hold a majority in the legislature. Street vendor Manuel Duran, 40, thought it was “better for congress to do it,” for another referendum would “divide the country.”

A two-way ceasefire between the government and FARC has been in force since August, but both sides have warned it is fragile. FROM ARMS TO POLITICS

The signing ceremony marked a six-month countdown for the 7,000-strong FARC to abandon weapons and form a political party.
The Colombian government and FARC rebels sign a new peace deal after the failure of the original one.