Colombia's Congress passes law to help war victims

BOGOTA, May 24 (Reuters) - Colombia&${esc.hash}39;s Congress passed on Tuesday a victims&${esc.hash}39; law that opened the door for reparations for victims and aims to return millions of acres of land to people displaced by the Andean nation&${esc.hash}39;s decades-old war.

Latin America&${esc.hash}39;s No. 4 oil producer has faced more than 40 years of violence from guerrillas and drug runners. While fighting and killings continue, the country has seen a drop in the conflict over the last decade.

President Juan Manuel Santos called the law "historic" in a message on Twitter.

A key aspect of the law is giving back land -- estimates run as high as 10 million acres (4 million hectares) -- taken from peasants by heavily-armed paramilitaries, drug lords and ranchers -- officials estimate that may take a decade.

"Lasting peace in the country, as has always been said, passes through the meridian of a solution to land disputes. Today it has taken a decisive step in this direction," Agriculture Minister Juan Camilo Restrepo said in a statement.

For years, large swaths of the Andean nation were off limits as drug runners, leftist guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary groups battled over territory, displacing millions of people and killing thousands more.

But a U.S.-backed crackdown under the former president has cut violence, demobilized paramilitaries and pushed back rebels to remote jungle hide-outs. That effort has helped bring in billions of dollars in investment, mainly in mining and oil.

Experts say the victims law will face practical challenges such as institutional deficiencies and also the threat of violence against previously displaced people who want to return to land stolen from them.

At least 11 leaders of land restitution movements have been killed in the last year and a half, according to rights groups. Some experts believe violence may rise at the beginning of the land restitution process. (Reporting by Jack Kimball; Editing by Paul Simao)