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FARC ready to 'fix' Colombia peace deal

Havana - The leader of Colombia's FARC rebels said Monday they are prepared to "fix" a peace deal with the government, a day after voters narrowly rejected it in a referendum.

The shock result, which threw the four-year-old peace process into uncertainty, "makes us much more committed" to ending the conflict, said Rodrigo Londono, the head of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

"There are various ways to read [the referendum result] and we must analyse them to see what needs to be fixed," said Londono, better known as Timoleon "Timochenko" Jimenez, in a radio interview from Havana, where the four-year peace talks were held.

The head of the government's delegation to the peace talks, Humberto de la Calle, meanwhile offered his resignation to President Juan Manuel Santos, who has staked his legacy on ending a 52-year-old conflict that has claimed more than 250 000 lives.

"Any mistakes we made are my responsibility alone," De la Calle told journalists at the presidential palace.

"As a result, I have come to tell the president that I am offering to stand down as head of the delegation, because I will not be an obstacle to what comes next."

Resentful of the blood shed by the leftist guerrillas and the lenient punishment the deal meted out for their crimes, voters on Sunday rejected the historic accord by a razor-thin margin: 50.2% for the "No" camp to 49.78% for "Yes."

The peace accord was supposed to end the last major armed conflict in the Western hemisphere.

Commentators compared the result to that of June's surprise "Brexit" vote for Britain to leave the European Union.

Turnout was low at just over 37%.

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