Colombia 'ready to talk' to rebel group ELN - BBC News

28 August 2013 Last updated at 22:46 ET

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos says his government is ready to start peace talks with the country's second-largest left-wing rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN).

The announcement comes a day after the ELN released a Canadian hostage it had been holding for months, Gernot Wober.

Mr Santos indicated talks would begin as soon as possible.

Colombia has been holding peace talks in Havana with the largest rebel group, the Farc, for several months.

But it had refused to negotiate with the ELN until the group had released all of its hostages.

In a statement, Mr Santos said the release of Mr Wober was a "gesture that I celebrate and appreciate".

"At the same time, there was also a statement from the ELN commander reiterating his desire to negotiate peace. I want to tell him that the government is ready to take that step too.

"Hopefully we can now agree on the necessary procedures to start a dialogue with the ELN as soon as possible, to see if we can end the conflict once and for all," he said.

Mr Santos did not offer details on the negotiations, but in Colombia many expect Uruguayan President Jose Mujica to play a key role, says the BBC's Arturo Wallace in Bogota.

The ELN, founded in 1965, has about 1,500 members, officials say - far fewer than the Farc (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia).

ELN has previously said that it wants to hold peace talks with the Colombian government.

Mr Wober, an executive with Toronto-based Braeval Mining Corp, was handed over to the Red Cross on Tuesday in the north of the country.

He had been seized in January along with five other workers who were released shortly afterwards.

The ELN's commander, Nicolas Rodriguez, said the release was a humanitarian act.

"We hope that this effort contributes to a healthy exchange and support for peace in Colombia," he said.

There had been hopes in Colombia that another ELN hostage, Colombian national Luis Andres Montes, who was kidnapped in July 2012, would also be released on Tuesday, but this did not happen.