Colombia's second largest rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), on Friday appointed five representatives for peace talks with the government.

"Two national commanders and three regional commanders have been designated for talks with the government," top ELN leader Nicolas Rodriguez Bautista, alias "Gabino," said in an interview with the NTN24 news channel.

"We believe that the conditions (for dialogue) are now better than previous processes, because today's society, especially the majority, feel the matter of urgency and are claiming to be involved in them ... We have been ready for the talks since one year ago," he said.

But he lamented the fact that the government is opposed to calling a ceasefire during the talks.

Officials said they feared a ceasefire would take the pressure off the war-weary rebels to negotiate a peace deal.

President Juan Manuel Santos has demanded the rebel group release all hostages as a condition for the talks.

The government has been in peace talks with the country's largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), since last November, which has been fighting the government troops for five decades.