BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) --Colombia's second-biggest rebel group and the
government ended a round of peace talks in Cuba Saturday, with both sides
saying the rebels would make peace gestures and that more talks were planned.

In a joint statement from Havana, released in Colombia by the government's press
agency, the National Liberation Army said it would "contribute to the celebration of
Christmas and the New Year in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility."

Details on what peace concessions the rebel group planned to make would be
announced on Monday, the statement said. The rebels are known by their Spanish
initials ELN.

"With these announcements, the ELN wishes to create a climate of confidence in the
restarted (peace) process," the statement said.

Talks began in a secret location in Cuba on Wednesday between representatives of
the ELN and Colombian President Andres Pastrana. The sides hope to create a
framework and agenda for formal negotiations aimed at ending the group's leftist
insurgency.

Pastrana severed contacts with the ELN earlier this year, saying the rebel group did
not appear committed to seeking peace.

Cuban leader Fidel Castro told reporters Thursday that his government was
"expressing our good will" by hosting the two sides in Havana in an effort at getting
talks on track.

The ELN has waged a campaign of bombing electrical towers and oil pipelines that
has cost the government millions of dollars. It also carries out kidnappings and fights
Colombian security forces on the battlefield.

The government and the ELN announced a new round of talks would be held
January 30-31 in Havana, and that representatives of the international community
and Colombian civil society would be invited to attend.

The government has also been engaged in talks for the past three years with this
South American country's biggest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia, but there have been few results.

Colombia's 37-year civil war, pitting the leftist guerrillas against government troops,
kills some 3,500 people every year.

Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.