Colombian president deems FARC ceasefire as insufficient

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos Wednesday welcomed an announcement by the leftist FARC rebels of a unilateral ceasefire, but said the measure was "insufficient".

"We announce our willingness to order a unilateral ceasefire from July 20 for a month," the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia said through a press release read by its chief negotiator Ivan Marquez before the renewal of peace talks in Havana's Palace of Conventions.

Santos said it is an "irony" that the FARC declares a unilateral ceasefire following its recent "ecocide", referring to its recent attacks on state energy infrastructure that caused an environmentally damaging oil spill.

"Of course I value the gesture ... but I don't think it's enough," the president said.

The FARC's intensified attacks on state energy infrastructure over the past month is in retaliation for military strikes against rebel camps, the Columbian government said.

The country's largest rebel group has long called for a bilateral ceasefire to accompany peace talks with the government, but Santos has refused, saying the only letup in fighting will come at the end of a definitive peace deal. < "If this ceasefire comes with several concrete commitments toward a definitive bilateral ceasefire, then we're talking about very serious and important progress in attaining peace," said Santos.

Santos said the talks should be sped up to put an end to this half-century conflict as quickly as possible.

The FARC first announced it would temporarily lay down arms at the start of the peace talks in late 2012. This is FARC's sixth unilateral ceasefire since then.

The half-century conflict has caused more than 220,000 deaths and around 6 million people have been displaced.