“We do not want to create false expectations, but we do believe there are structural elements that allow us to harbour hope that we will see good news for Colombia,” chief government negotiator Humberto de la Calle told AFP before leaving Bogota.

If the preliminary talks in Oslo go smoothly, further negotiations addressing the precise details of a deal are scheduled later in Havana.

Together with Cuba, Norway is playing the role of facilitator in the peace process that seeks to put an end to a conflict that has claimed thousands of lives in the past 50 years.

Talks had originally been scheduled to begin on Wednesday near the Norwegian capital, but Ivan Marquez, the top negotiator for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, was held up by bad weather en route to Cuba.

Norwegian foreign ministry spokeswoman Veslemoey Lothe Salvesen told AFP that a press conference featuring both delegations at a hotel near Oslo, originally scheduled for Wednesday, would now be held 24 hours later.

FARC leader Timoleon Jimenez, also known as Timochenko, said on Monday that the movement’s representatives had experienced unexpected delays, citing problems in getting arrest warrants for some rebels suspended.

According to the Colombian press, tensions were also raised over a last-minute request by the FARC to include a Dutch national, Tanja Nijmeijer, among its representatives….”(Aljazeera)