Colombian peace process 'in crisis,' UN envoy warns

Pointing to new difficulties in the talks between the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the country's government, a United Nations envoy warned today that the peace process in Colombia was in crisis.

Jan Egeland, Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Adviser on Colombia, told a press briefing at UN Headquarters in New York that he was gravely concerned over the situation in the country, which he described as being one of the biggest armed conflicts in the Western Hemisphere.

"Measured in human suffering, it is equal to any conflict in the world," he said.

Mr. Egeland urged the parties to return to the negotiating table and to stick to the issues that were up for negotiation: a ceasefire and an end to hostilities, as well as an agreement on human rights and international humanitarian law. "The parties should not waste all that they have built up over the last three years of the peace process," he said, stressing that there was no military solution to the conflict and no alternative to a negotiated settlement.

Drawing attention to the hundreds of thousands of displaced persons and massive human rights violations, Mr. Egeland said a rupture in the peace talks "would only lead to total war and that would only lead to even much more massive civilian suffering in Colombia."

Asked about the lack of attention directed towards the situation in Colombia, Mr. Egeland said there should be more focus on Colombia and Latin America within the United Nations. In fact, he said, various meetings had been held today among the heads of UN agencies to address the critical situation in the country. Fifteen UN agencies were already engaged in work there, he noted, but because Columbia was not one of the poorest countries in the world, the resources at the disposal of the UN were limited.