BOGOTA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- The Colombian government and its last major rebel movement announced Friday their peace talks scheduled for May 27-30 in Havana will be postponed to make way for the first round of the country's presidential election on Sunday.
"We express our firm commitment to the searching for an agreement which allows Colombians to enjoy a country at peace, with full rights and well-being," said the government and the National Liberation Army (ELN).
A unilateral ceasefire started on Friday as the ELN announced on May 14 that it would cease military activities from the midnight of May 25 to midnight of May 29 in order to allow voters to express themselves in the election
"It is hoped that this conciliatory spirit of the ELN will be met with a similar stance from the various political-military forces of the regime," said the ELN.
If no political candidate wins the election outright with 50 percent of the vote on Sunday, a second round will be held on June 17.
Talks between the government and the ELN began in February 2017 and their fifth round of negotiations in Havana started on May 10.
Negotiations previously took place in Quito, Ecuador. Ecuador pulled out as mediator of the talks after three Ecuadorian journalists were murdered earlier this year along the Colombian border by dissidents of FARC, an extinct Colombian guerrilla group now.
