Pope backs dialogue between Colombia, FARC rebels

Pope Benedict XVI expressed his support Sunday for a budding "important dialogue" between the government of Colombia and FARC rebels to end Latin America's oldest armed conflict. May "those who have joined this initiative be guided by the desire for forgiving and reconciliation in the sincere search for the common good", he said in a message to the faithful written in Spanish. The peace process, which the pope said is aimed at putting "an end to a conflict which has riven this beloved country for decades,” is being organized in Norway and Cuba. Members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, are currently in Havana where the rebel group has confirmed that peace talks with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos' administration were getting started. Talks are due to begin October 8 in Oslo and then move to Havana, the first attempt in a decade to find a negotiated end to an armed conflict that began in 1964, when the FARC was founded. The last peace negotiations in 2002 fell apart when the government concluded that the guerrillas were regrouping in a vast demilitarized zone it created and where the talks were held.