Colombia's peace deal in limbo after shock referendum

Colombia's government and Marxist guerrillas scrambled on Monday to revive a plan to end their 52-year war after voters rejected the hard-negotiated deal as too lenient on the rebels in a shock referendum result that plunged the nation into uncertainty. Any renegotiated peace accord now seems to depend on whether the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) could accept tougher

sanctions against them.

"No" voters, who narrowly won Sunday's plebiscite, want assurances the rebels will hand in cash from drugs, spend time in jail, and earn their political future at the ballot box rather than get guaranteed, unelected seats in Congress.

Both President Juan Manuel Santos and Rodrigo Londono, the top FARC commander better known by his nom de guerre Timochenko, put a brave face on the referendum setback after four years of negotiations in Havana between their teams.

They vowed to maintain a ceasefire and keep working together, even though that could be another lengthy and complicated process. "I will keep seeking peace until the last minute of my term," said Santos, who leaves office in mid-2018.

In a statement, the FARC said it would "remain faithful" to the accord signed last week with the government and called on Colombians to mobilise peacefully to support terms of the existing agreement.

Members of the opposition, headed by powerful former president Alvaro Uribe, will meet with the government to try and salvage the accord, Santos said on Monday in a televised address.

"With the will for peace from all sides, I am sure we can reach satisfactory solutions for everyone soon," said Santos, whose political image has taken a beating with the result. "The country will come out winning and the process will be strengthened."

Uribe, a onetime ally who has become Santos' fiercest critic, maintains wide-ranging influence and had argued the rebels should serve jail terms and never be permitted to enter politics.

"We are completely willing to dialogue," Uribe, now a senator, said on the floor of Congress on Monday. "But is there willingness on the part of the government to listen and introduce some changes?"

Latin America's longest conflict has killed 220,000 people, displaced millions and brought atrocities on all sides.