<div>Colombia's peace deal between the government and the Marxist FARC rebels is a model for war-torn countries like Syria, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said today as he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize.<br /><br />The peace accord, signed on November 24 to end five decades of conflict, is a "model for the resolution of armed conflicts that have yet to be resolved around the world."<br /><br />"It proves that what, at first, seems impossible, through perseverance may become possible even in Syria or Yemen or South Sudan," Santos said during a lavish ceremony at Oslo's City Hall, decked out in red, orange and white roses and carnations imported from Colombia for the occasion.<br /><br />After a first peace deal was rejected in a popular vote on October 2, the rebels and government negotiated a new accord to end the conflict, which has killed more than 260,000 people, left 45,000 missing and forced nearly seven million to flee their homes.<br /><br />"The Colombian peace agreement is a ray of hope in a world troubled by so many conflicts and so much intolerance," he said.<br /><br />Yet in an interview with AFP just hours before today's prize ceremony, Santos acknowledged that the hardest part of the country's peace process was yet to come.<br /><br />The period ahead "is a more difficult phase than the (negotiation) process itself, and will require a lot of effort, perseverance and humility," he said.<br /><br />"A lot of coordination efforts will also be needed... to bring the benefits of peace to the regions that have suffered the most in the conflict," he added.<br /><br />He also said he could offer no guarantees there would be a peace deal in place with Colombia's second-largest rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), before the end of his mandate in 2018.<br /><br />"I will do my best but to establish a time frame is always counter-productive in negotiations of this sort," he said.<br /><br />In a speech at the ceremony, Berit Reiss-Andersen, deputy chairwoman of the Nobel committee, urged "all sides in Colombia to carry on the national dialogue and continue on the road to reconciliation.<br /><br />"Hopefully, a similar negotiated disarmament agreement with the ELN guerrilla will soon be in place as well."<br /><br />The Nobel prize consists of a gold medal, a diploma and a cheque for eight million Swedish kronor (824,000 euros, USD 871,000), a sum Santos promised to donate to the victims of the war.<br /><br />Later today, another ceremony will be held in Stockholm where the Nobel laureates in the sciences, economics and literature will be honoured - a ceremony marked by the notable absence of this year's literature laureate, Bob Dylan.</div>
<div>Colombia's peace deal between the government and the Marxist FARC rebels is a model for war-torn countries like Syria, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said today as he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize.<br /><br />The peace accord, signed on November 24 to end five decades of conflict, is a "model for the resolution of armed conflicts that have yet to be resolved around the world."<br /><br />"It proves that what, at first, seems impossible, through perseverance may become possible even in Syria or Yemen or South Sudan," Santos said during a lavish ceremony at Oslo's City Hall, decked out in red, orange and white roses and carnations imported from Colombia for the occasion.<br /><br />After a first peace deal was rejected in a popular vote on October 2, the rebels and government negotiated a new accord to end the conflict, which has killed more than 260,000 people, left 45,000 missing and forced nearly seven million to flee their homes.<br /><br />"The Colombian peace agreement is a ray of hope in a world troubled by so many conflicts and so much intolerance," he said.<br /><br />Yet in an interview with AFP just hours before today's prize ceremony, Santos acknowledged that the hardest part of the country's peace process was yet to come.<br /><br />The period ahead "is a more difficult phase than the (negotiation) process itself, and will require a lot of effort, perseverance and humility," he said.<br /><br />"A lot of coordination efforts will also be needed... to bring the benefits of peace to the regions that have suffered the most in the conflict," he added.<br /><br />He also said he could offer no guarantees there would be a peace deal in place with Colombia's second-largest rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), before the end of his mandate in 2018.<br /><br />"I will do my best but to establish a time frame is always counter-productive in negotiations of this sort," he said.<br /><br />In a speech at the ceremony, Berit Reiss-Andersen, deputy chairwoman of the Nobel committee, urged "all sides in Colombia to carry on the national dialogue and continue on the road to reconciliation.<br /><br />"Hopefully, a similar negotiated disarmament agreement with the ELN guerrilla will soon be in place as well."<br /><br />The Nobel prize consists of a gold medal, a diploma and a cheque for eight million Swedish kronor (824,000 euros, USD 871,000), a sum Santos promised to donate to the victims of the war.<br /><br />Later today, another ceremony will be held in Stockholm where the Nobel laureates in the sciences, economics and literature will be honoured - a ceremony marked by the notable absence of this year's literature laureate, Bob Dylan.</div>