2 sides agree on timetable for cease-fire

 BY NANCY SAN MARTIN

 LOS POZOS, Colombia -- After a week of intense negotiations, the government and rebel fighters signed off on a timetable for a bilateral cease-fire Sunday, averting an escalation of violence and reviving a peace process that has been three years in the making.

 The accord came hours before the abolition of a haven that would have sent troops into a territory in southern Colombia where the rebels have been allowed to roam freely.

 Both sides agreed to take steps, beginning Jan. 23, to achieve a cease-fire by April 7.

 Among the issues that will be addressed are a commitment by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, to bring an end to kidnappings and by the
 government to reign in rightist paramilitary groups.

 CANDIDATES INVITED

 The accord also calls for inviting presidential candidates to the negotiation table, informing the public of progress made and finding a way to help the unemployed.

 The country has an unemployment rate of 20 percent.

 A significant component of the document deals with the U.S.-backed drug eradication program. The FARC said it would no longer oppose the program, so long as the communities affected are consulted.

 After the accord, Camilo Gómez, the government's top negotiator, said: ``I am starting to believe that peace in Colombia is possible.''

 The deal between President Andrés Pastrana and the FARC could mark a new stage in a 38-year civil conflict.

 The consensus means the FARC can remain in a demilitarized zone that is one-third the size of Florida, so long as it commits to ending violence, kidnapping, extortion and destruction of infrastructure.

 Rebel negotiator Raúl Reyes said that in addition to cease-fire talks, the FARC wanted to discuss steps to clamp down on an outlawed right-wing paramilitary group and to introduce unemployment compensation for Colombians.

 The government says that while talking peace, the FARC has waged an offensive during the past few days, killing 12 government soldiers on Saturday. The president of Congress, Carlos García, said Saturday night that the rebel attacks appeared aimed at pressuring the government and weakening its negotiating position.

 James LeMoyne, the United Nations envoy, was credited with salvaging talks after they collapsed a week ago and brought the nation to the brink of full-scale war.

 LeMoyne's role as facilitator is the first time the FARC has agreed to the presence of international observers at the negotiating table. They included diplomats from
 France, Spain, Venezuela, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, Cuba, Mexico, Italy, Norway and the Roman Catholic Church. Though violence is expected to level off -- at least in the short term -- the deal reached with the 17,500-member guerrilla force will not bring a halt to turmoil affecting the nation, analysts said.

 WAR HAS WIDENED

 Though the civil war was begun by the FARC, it now includes smaller guerrilla forces such as the 3,500-strong National Liberation Army, or ELN, which like the FARC is engaged in battle against government troops and the paramilitaries grouped under the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC. An estimated 3,600 people die each year as a result of the conflict.

 The biggest challenge for the government will be to reign in an estimated 8,000 paramilitaries. The illegal militias are notorious for their brutal massacres of civilians they suspect of being rebel sympathizers.

                                    © 2002