Colombia's FARC Says 30% of Arms Delivered Under Deal

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, have handed in 30 percent of their weapons to the United Nations in an amnesty agreement that's part of the peace deal ending over five decades of conflict.

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Last week, the UN Colombian mission said 44 containers and eight depots had been placed in 26 demobilization zones to collect the hardware.

Around 450 international observers and 72 civil officials are overseeing the disarmament process.

Under the peace agreement signed between the Colombian government and the rebels on Nov 24, the FARC must give up all arms before they can reintegrate into civil society.

The group's leader Rodrigo Londoño, known as Timochenko, said: "It was established that the United Nations will receive the weapons, deposit them in the containers and certify the arms given by each of the members of the FARC".

The weaponry will be destroyed and then used for the construction of three monuments in different countries.

“It is the effective beginning of our goodbye to arms. 30% of our armament has been put into the hands of the UN Mission in Colombia,” Timochenko said. “The FARC are fulfilling our word!”

The other 30 percent of the munitions will be delivered on June 14 and the remaining 40 percent on June 20.

The FARC leader said that "we will never again use violence, our only weapon will be the word, we promised it and we will fulfill it."

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Lev Ladislao Lopez, a UN observer from Guatemala, said he was grateful to the rebels for "taking on the commitment that was once agreed and allowing us to start the process and transition to legality, and for trusting the UN."

"The transit to the legality of the FARC in the zones started. Welcome to civilian life," the office of the High Commissioner for Peace said on his Twitter account after the news.

The government and the FARC agreed to extend the disarmament deadline to June 20 following delays in the construction of 26 transition zones where 7,000 rebels will prepare for their reintegration into civilian life.