In Colombia FARC will participate in Elections in 2018

The largest rebel group in Colombia will participate in elections for the first time in 2018 as a newly formed political party.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, which is set to become a political party after signing a landmark peace deal with the government, announced it will seek a national consensus for peace, instead of seeking the presidency, in the upcoming elections.

The head of the FARC, Rodrigo Londoño, also known by his alias Timoleon Jimenez or Timochenko, said the group won't put forward a presidential candidate in the 2018 general elections. Instead, the new political party will support and promote "a great front that brings together all those who worked for peace in Colombia," Timochenko said.

According to Timochenko, the group does not intend to go back to war and will focus on the implementation of the peace deal and reaching out to the rest of the kidnapping victims who were released and they haven't been able to talk to yet.

Timochenko said the next step for the FARC is to complete the process of its members laying down their arms in the next six months, but stressed that it must happen in "decent conditions."