President Alvaro Uribe proposed suspending offensive operations against Colombia’s smaller Marxist rebel group if it agrees to a cease-fire, officials said. Uribe sent a letter late Wednesday to a Mexican diplomat mediating peace efforts asking him to present the proposal to the National Liberation Army, or ELN, government Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo said in a statement. Restrepo said that if the ELN ends “its actions against the state and civil society, the government will respond similarly … so that a serious dialogue with a real commitment to peace can take place.” Full Story