Columbia/National Liberation Army (ELN) – Colombia's government and the country's last active rebel force, the leftwing National Liberation Army (ELN), will resume peace talks in just over a week, according to the lead state negotiator. The return to the negotiating table was meant to have happened on the 3 May 17 but was put off because of an information-sharing meeting in Cuba between the ELN and the bigger leftist rebel group, FARC, which has already struck an accord with the government. "Ecuador has generously hosted the peace talks between the Colombian government and the ELN, which will resume on the 16 May 17," Juan Camilo Restrepo, the Colombian negotiator, said on Twitter. A visit to Colombia by Lenin Moreno, Ecuador's president-elect - due to take place on the 8 May 17 - also pushed back the resumption of talks. Restrepo said Moreno "will keep supporting the talks looking for peace in Colombia" as his outgoing predecessor Rafael Correa did. In Nov 16, FARC, or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, signed a peace deal with the government after four years of talks. The ELN launched its peace negotiations in Feb 17. It has an estimated 1,500 fighters, compared with the FARC's 7,000. Formal negotiations between the ELN and the government were delayed from Nov 16 pending the release of a prominent politician the group held hostage for nearly 10 months. More than five decades of conflict involving the two rebel movements, the army and rightwing paramilitary groups has resulted in more than 260,000 deaths, the disappearance of tens of thousands, and the displacement of about six million people. The ELN is considered a "terrorist" group by the US and the EU. It is believed to have extorted, bombed oil and electricity infrastructure and kidnapped hundreds of people in its 52 years of existence to raise funds for the war and put pressure on the government. Colombia is the last country to see major armed conflict in the region. Peace with the two rebel groups could allow for economic development in previously rebel-held areas.
United States/Fateh al-Sham – The United States is offering a $10 million reward for information to identify or locate the head of Al-Qaeda's former Syria affiliate the Fateh al-Sham Front it was reported on the 10 May 17. The State Department's Rewards for Justice reward for information on Abu Mohamed al-Jolani is its first for a leader of the group. He has been named a "specially designated global terrorist" by the State Department and is also listed at the United Nations Security Council. In its notice, the State Department indicates that Jolani pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda in Apr 13 after falling out with the Islamic State group. He praised Al-Qaeda again in an online video posted in Jul 16. Fateh al-Sham Front, previously known as Al-Nusra Front, split from Al-Qaeda in Jul 16 from Al-Qaeda in a move analysts said was an abortive attempt to end its blacklisting by the United Nations and Western governments. It has a contentious relationship with some rebel groups, but many others have allied with it against President Bashar al-Assad's regime, despite its jihadist ideology. Fateh al-Sham has been excluded from the opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC), as well as previous talks between rebel groups and the government. "Under Jolani's leadership, ANF has carried out multiple terrorist attacks throughout Syria, often targeting civilians," the State Department notice read. "In Apr 15, ANF reportedly kidnapped, and later released, approximately 300 Kurdish civilians from a checkpoint in Syria. In Jun 15, ANF claimed responsibility for the massacre of 20 residents in the Druze village Qalb Lawzeh in Idlib province, Syria."
United States/Fateh al-Sham – The United States is offering a $10 million reward for information to identify or locate the head of Al-Qaeda's former Syria affiliate the Fateh al-Sham Front it was reported on the 10 May 17. The State Department's Rewards for Justice reward for information on Abu Mohamed al-Jolani is its first for a leader of the group. He has been named a "specially designated global terrorist" by the State Department and is also listed at the United Nations Security Council. In its notice, the State Department indicates that Jolani pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda in Apr 13 after falling out with the Islamic State group. He praised Al-Qaeda again in an online video posted in Jul 16. Fateh al-Sham Front, previously known as Al-Nusra Front, split from Al-Qaeda in Jul 16 from Al-Qaeda in a move analysts said was an abortive attempt to end its blacklisting by the United Nations and Western governments. It has a contentious relationship with some rebel groups, but many others have allied with it against President Bashar al-Assad's regime, despite its jihadist ideology. Fateh al-Sham has been excluded from the opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC), as well as previous talks between rebel groups and the government. "Under Jolani's leadership, ANF has carried out multiple terrorist attacks throughout Syria, often targeting civilians," the State Department notice read. "In Apr 15, ANF reportedly kidnapped, and later released, approximately 300 Kurdish civilians from a checkpoint in Syria. In Jun 15, ANF claimed responsibility for the massacre of 20 residents in the Druze village Qalb Lawzeh in Idlib province, Syria."
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