Santos vows 'cold assessment' of FARC peace talks

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has vowed a "cold assessment" of peace talks with FARC rebels, following the release of an abducted army general.

The guerrilla group on Sunday handed over general Rubén Darío Alzate and two others held hostage for 14 days in the rural area of Las Mercedes, in the Colombian department of Chocó.

Their capture had prompted Santos to suspend peace talks with the rebels in Cuba.

Santos said negotiators from both sides were due to begin a two-day meeting in the Cuban capital Havana on Monday.

"They [FARC representatives and members of the Colombian government] will evaluate where we stand in the process and in which direction we're heading, as well as conduct a cold, objective assessment of the process to determine the next steps," Santos said on the presidential website on Monday.

Sunday's rescue operation, which also led to the release of a corporal and a lawyer, was part of a humanitarian mission led by the International Red Cross.

The group was taken by helicopter to a military base near Medellín, before being transferred to the capital Bogotá.

Santos began informal discussions with the FARC shortly after taking office in August 2010 to put an end to the decades-long conflict that has left over 200,000 people dead. Formal talks with the group's representatives began in Oslo and the Cuban capital in 2012. The agreement that laid out a six-point agenda for the peace talks did not include a ceasefire.

In recent years, the FARC and fellow insurgent group ELN have attacked oil installations, electricity infrastructure and rail lines used by coal mining companies, among other facilities.