Colombia Rebel Group ‘Studying’ Truce Proposal

The rebel National Liberation Army said Tuesday that it was studying a truce accord, but a powerful car bomb that killed seven people showed other guerrillas intend to continue their attacks.

The group, known by its Spanish initials ELN, said in a communique from Havana that talks with the government had led to a truce proposal. The truce would include international monitors.

“We have started studying a truce accord, which would become a tangible sign of peace for Colombians,” said the Cuban-inspired rebel force.

“A truce is not a definitive peace accord. It is the first step, meant to ease the development in negotiations to find a political solution,” it added.

The government and the ELN, founded in the early 1960s by followers of the Cuban revolution, have been meeting in Havana since December. Political analysts say outgoing President Andres Pastrana needs to clinch an accord with the 5,000-member rebel force to secure his legacy before stepping down in August.

But the obstacles ahead were underlined by a powerful car bomb that killed three soldiers and four civilians in a small town bordering a former FARC rebel safe haven. The FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, is the country’s main rebel group.

Twelve others were injured in the blast, which the military blamed on the FARC. A doctor in Puerto Lleras said three victims had been hospitalized in serious condition. Local residents said the bomb exploded outside an abandoned police station, laying waste to the area as it sprayed passersby with shards of glass and rubble.

“A loud explosion rang out; it shook the whole town. Then a huge column of smoke billowed upward,” said Delsy Jimenez, who works at Puerto Lleras’ mayor’s office.

In a separate incident, the army said a FARC rebel was killed while driving a car packed with explosives to a detonation site within the former safe haven. The car exploded prematurely, killing the driver. No one else was hurt.

Pastrana jettisoned 3-year-old peace talks with the 17,000-member FARC on Feb. 20 after the Marxist-inspired rebels hijacked a commercial airplane and kidnapped a senator.