Next Round Postponed in Colombia Peace Talks

The next round of talks between Colombia and the leftist FARC rebels -- planned for November 18 -- has been postponed, a government source said Sunday.

"By common consent, it was decided to postpone the start of this round of talks, because they asked for more time to work on the issue of illegal drugs," the source said.

"I do not yet have a precise date" for when the talks will resume in Cuba, he added.

The postponement comes two days before the process was set to mark the one-year anniversary since the talks began on November 19, 2012.

So far, the negotiations have resolved two of the five key points on the agenda. This next round was set to tackle the question of drug-trafficking, which the FARC is alleged to have abetted to finance their operations.

The two sides must also still resolve questions on compensation for victims and disarmament.

The half-century old guerrilla war -- Latin America's longest-running insurgency -- has left hundreds of thousands of dead and displaced more than 4.5 million people.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or the FARC, has some 7,000 to 8,000 fighters, Colombia's largest rebel group. The nearly 50-year-old conflict is Latin America's longest-running insurgency.