Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos gestures before a press conference after winning the Nobel Peace Prize 2016 on October 7, 2016 at Casa de Narino presidential palace in Bogota. Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos dedicated his Nobel Peace Prize Friday to the victims of his country's civil war, which he has worked to end through a contested peace accord with communist rebels / AFP / GUILLERMO LEGARIA

OSLO: Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos won the Nobel Prize yesterday for his "resolute" efforts to end five decades of war in his country, despite voters' shock rejection of a historic peace deal. The award was unexpected after voters rejected the accord Santos signed last month with FARC leader Rodrigo Londono, alias Timoleon "Timochenko" Jimenez, with some observers expressing surprise the rebel chief did not jointly receive the prize.

But the FARC chief congratulated his former enemy and said the only prize the Marxist guerrillas wanted was "peace with social justice for Colombia.. peace in the streets." The Norwegian Nobel committee said the award recognized Santos' "resolute efforts" to bring Latin America's longest war to end and hailed his decision to put the peace deal to the people despite knowing it was controversial.

Committee chairwoman Kaci Kullmann Five paid tribute to other players in the peace process, without mentioning the FARC leader by name. "By awarding this year's Peace Prize to President Juan Manuel Santos, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to encourage all those who are striving to achieve peace, reconciliation and justice in Colombia," she said.

The deal, signed on September 26 after nearly four years of talks, was supposed to be ratified following an October 2 referendum but voters shot it down, leaving Colombia teetering between war and peace.

The result caught Nobel watchers off guard, with most experts predicting the referendum would scupper Colombia's chances. But the committee said the aim was to encourage peace efforts, which are now in "real danger" of collapse. "We hope that it will encourage all good initiatives and all the parties who could make a difference in the peace process and give Colombia-finally a peace after decades of war," Kullmann Five said.

Santos said he was honoured by the award, which he dedicated to "all Colombians, especially the millions of victims of this conflict that we have suffered for more than 50 years."

In remarks to the Nobel Foundation, he also said an end to the conflict was "very, very close" and that the award was "a great stimulus" in the quest for peace. "The message is that we have to persevere and reach the end of this war. We are very, very close, we just need to push a bit further."

Countless victims

More than 260,000 people have been killed and 45,000 gone missing in the Colombian conflict which has involved leftist guerrilla groups, rightwing paramilitaries and drug gangs. Under the terms of the deal, FARC was to relaunch as a political party, but the agreement was struck down following a successful campaign by rightwing hardliners angered by the offer of impunity for the rebels.

Santos, who has staked his legacy on making peace, has warned that Colombia is now in a "very dangerous limbo" while the Nobel committee said there was a "real danger that the peace process will come to a halt and that civil war will flare up again". FARC leaders have vowed they are committed to peace, but it is unclear whether they will be able to sell a new deal to the rank and file.

'Too far to turn back'

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the Nobel prize came at "a critical moment" and proved Colombia had come "too far (along the path to peace) to turn back". Colombia's former leader Alvaro Uribe, who led opposition to the accord, also congratulated Santos, saying he hoped the award encourages "changes" to the deal. Nobel watchers had initially tipped both Santos and Jimenez as likely winners, and Ingrid Betancourt, who was held by FARC guerrillas for six years in the jungle, said the rebel leader should have shared the prize.

Speaking to France's iTele channel, she said she was "very, very happy" the award went to Santos, and it showed "there was no turning back from peace". Asked if she thought FARC should also have been honored, she answered: "Yes... it's very hard for me to say yes... but I think so." -AFP