BOGOTA: Colombia will turn the page on a half-century conflict that has stained its modern history with blood when the FARC rebels and the government sign a peace deal on Monday.
President Juan Manuel Santos and the leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Rodrigo Londono -- better known by his nom de guerre, Timoleon "Timochenko" Jimenez -- are set to sign the accord at 5:00 pm (2200 GMT) in a ceremony in the colorful colonial city of Cartagena on the Caribbean coast.
It will be preceded by a tribute to the Colombian military and police, presided over by Santos, and a prayer for peace and reconciliation at an 18th century Catholic church in Cartagena's old town.
The guests will include UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, US Secretary of State John Kerry and a cortege of Latin American leaders -- notably Cuban President Raul Castro, whose country hosted the nearly four-year-long peace talks that produced a final deal on August 24.
The 2,500 expected attendees have been invited to wear white.
The ceremony is the second-to-last step in ratifying the peace deal.
Colombians will vote on it in a referendum on October 2. Recent polls show the "Yes" camp in the lead.
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