FILE - In this Jan. 26, 2018 file photo, Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos addresses the media after talks with Austrian President Alexander van der Bellen at the Hofburg palace in Vienna, Austria. Santos said on Monday, March 12, 2018 that he's resuming peace talks with his nation's last remaining rebel group, the National Liberation Army. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak, File)
March 12, 2018 - 11:06 AM
BOGOTA - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos says he's resuming peace talks with the nation's last remaining rebel group.
Santos told the nation in a televised broadcast Monday that he's sending his chief negotiator back to Ecuador for a new round of talks in belief that "peace saves lives."
Talks between the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army broke down in January after the expiration of a temporary cease-fire. The rebels initiated fresh attacks just hours after the cease-fire ended and sporadic violence between the guerrillas and government forces has continued.
Authorities say six police officers were killed and 47 injured in a rebel bombing at a police station in Barranquilla in January. Nearly a half-dozen other officers were killed in a roadside bombing near Colombia's border with Venezuela in February.
News from © The Associated Press, 2018