Colombia's Clan del Golfo rules out surrender, but open to talks -lawyer

FILE PHOTO: People protest outside the Alfonso Lopez stadium before the Women's Copa America final match, against the killings of police officers by the Clan Del Golfo criminal gang, according to authorities, in Bucaramanga, Colombia July 30, 2022. REUTERS/Mariana Greif/File Photo

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces (AGC) crime gang, better know as the Clan del Golfo, wants to hold peace talks with the government but rejects a proposed surrender to end its role in the country's conflict, a lawyer for the group told Reuters on Friday.

Colombia's leftist President Gustavo Petro has said a key policy for his administration is to make peace negotiations and potential surrender deals with armed groups to end the six-decade conflict, which has killed at least 450,000 people.