Colombia EMC rebel group pledges no attacks on COP16 later this year

BOGOTA (Reuters) - A faction of Colombia rebel group the Estado Mayor Central will not attack the United Nations' COP16 biodiversity conference in the city of Cali later this year, it said this week.

The EMC is a faction of dissident former FARC fighters who reject a 2016 peace deal with the state.

"We've decided, as a gesture of our will for peace, to order our units not to affect the normal development of the COP16 that will be held soon in the city of Cali," the group's top leader, Nestor Gregorio, better by his nom de guerre 'Ivan Mordisco,' said in a video message shared via X on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, the group warned the COP16 "will fail," prompting fears it could mount an attack on the conference amid a breakdown in its peace talks with the government.

On July 16, the government ended a ceasefire with the EMC factions led by Mordisco, adding that a ceasefire with other EMC groups would hold for three more months.

(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing Oliver Griffin)

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