President wants rebels off terror list

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos is asking the United States to remove the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia from its list of terrorist organizations and suspend drug warrants against guerrilla commanders to help him seal a peace deal with the insurgency.

In an interview days before a key visit to the White House, Santos made his most-sweeping call for action from Washington in more than three years of peace talks with the FARC rebels. His meeting with President Barack Obama on Thursday will celebrate 15 years and some $10 billion in US counterinsurgency and anti-narcotics aid to its staunchest ally in the region.

The meeting will also underscore Colombia's historic moment: the peace talks taking place in Cuba have reached what both sides describe as a point of no return, with a final deal to end a half-century of bloodshed expected as early as March.