Colombia Congress approves amnesty for thousands of FARC Rebels Wednesday Dec 28,2016

Colombia's Congress on Wednesday Dec 28,2016 passed a law granting amnesty to FARC rebels as part of the country's peace deal, a development the government hailed as "historic."

"Thanks to the Congress which in a historic vote approved the amnesty law, first step toward consolidating peace," President Juan Manuel Santos said on Twitter.

The measure grants special legal treatment, amnesty and pardon to members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) accused of political and related crimes.

The Senate passed the bill 69-0, after the House of Representatives approved it 121-0.

The amnesty bill is part of the Nov 24,2016 pact aimed at ending five decades of conflict.

Former president Alvaro Uribe spearheaded opposition to the peace deal after nearly four years of negotiations to end more than half a century of armed conflict.

The former president and his allies argue the deal grants impunity to rebels guilty of war crimes, giving them seats in Congress rather than sending them to prison.