HAVANA: Colombia will miss a March 23 deadline for a peace accord between the government and FARC rebels, after the guerrillas agreed Thursday with the president that more time is needed.

Speaking a day after Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said he would not sign a “bad deal” just to meet the self-imposed deadline, FARC peace negotiator Joaquin Gomez said the rebels agreed an extension was needed to end the half-century conflict.

“We agree with what (the president) said, that conditions aren’t in place for the 23rd,” Gomez said. “We agree that we should set another date by consensus.”

The government and the FARC have been holding talks in the Cuban capital Havana since November 2012, seeking to end a grinding, complex conflict that has killed more than 260,000 people and uprooted 6.6 million.

Santos and FARC leader Timoleon Jimenez announced the deadline with much fanfare on Sept. 23, when they met for the first time for the signing of a landmark deal.