The Colombian government and the country’s largest rebel group, the FARC, have signed a revised peace deal on November 24 (Thursday) local time.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the head of the FARC guerrilla Timoleon Jimenez, alias Timochenko, signed the deal in a low-key ceremony in the capital, Bogota, and then handed to the president of the Congress.

The previous deal was rejected by the Colombian people in a popular vote on October 2, reports the BBC.

The revised agreement has been submitted to Congress for approval, rather than put to a popular vote.

The deal is aimed at ending five decades of armed conflict, which has killed more than 260,000 people and left millions internally displaced.

The ceremony was deliberately kept much smaller than the signing of the previous agreement on September 26, which was attended by regional heads of state and the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon.

About 800 people were invited to Thursday’s ceremony in Colon Theatre rather than the 2,500 who attended the previous ceremony in the port city of Cartagena.

As FARC leader Timochenko and President Juan Manuel Santos shook hands after taking turns to sign the document, the guests rose to their feet and chanted “Si se pudo” (“Yes, we could”).

Timochenko said the agreement “put a definite end to the war so we can confront our difference in a civilized manner”.

BDST: 1035 HRS, NOV 25, 2016
SR