Updated

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos is hoping the U.S. will suspend drug warrants against guerrilla commanders and remove the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia from a list of terrorist groups to help cinch a peace deal with Latin America's oldest leftist insurgency.

Santos' remarks in an interview Thursday with The Associated Press come days before he meets with President Barack Obama at the White House.

Santos said if a peace deal with the FARC is reached the State Department should strike the group from the list it's been on since 1997 as soon as is feasible. Three-year-old peace talks would also benefit if decade-old charges against the FARC leadership for allegedly running the world's largest cocaine cartel are also suspended.

U.S. officials have insisted only prosecutors can suspend the warrants.