Betancourt rescued from guerrillas

3 Jul 2008, 7:45 am   -   Source: AAP
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Charismatic French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt hugs her mother Yolanda Pulecio upon her arrival at the Catam air base in Bogota. (AAP).

Charismatic French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt hugs her mother Yolanda Pulecio upon her arrival at the Catam air base in Bogota. (AAP).

French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and three Americans have been rescued from leftist guerrillas who had held them hostage in secret jungle camps.

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French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and three Americans have been rescued from leftist guerrillas by Colombian troops, Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos says.

Santos said all of the former hostages were in reasonably good health after being held for years in secret jungle camps.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC, has been holding about 40 high-profile hostages it has sought to exchange for jailed rebels.

Betancourt, a former presidential candidate with dual nationality, was kidnapped by the FARC in 2002. She was last seen in a rebel video at the end of last year looking gaunt and despondent.

The Americans, three Defence Department contract workers, were captured in 2003 after their light aircraft crashed in the jungles while on a counternarcotics operation.

In Paris an aide to President Nicolas Sarkozy, asked about the news, said the presidency has no comment to make for the moment and that it could not confirm the news.

The FARC, waging Latin America's oldest insurgency, has demanded that Colombian President Alvaro Uribe pull back troops from an area the size of New York City to facilitate talks.

Uribe, popular at home for his tough stance against the rebels, refuses to accept that condition. But he has offered a smaller safe haven under international observation in an area where there are no armed forces or armed groups.

The FARC, once a 17,000-member force able to attack cities and kidnap almost at will, has been driven back into remote areas and now has about 9,000 combatants. The guerrillas have lost three major leaders this year.

Listed as a terrorist group by US and European officials, the FARC has used Colombia's cocaine trade to fund its operations.

Greens leader Bob Brown has welcomed the release of Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt, saying he is stunned at her rescue during a daring jungle operation after six hard years in captivity.

Senator Brown, who has campaigned consistently for Ms Betancourt's release after her kidnap by leftist FARC guerrillas, said she had visited Australia in 2001 and many in Australia were deeply concerned at her plight.

"She is a remarkable character who retained her spirit in appalling dreadful jungle captivity," he said.

"As a friend of hers I am just so stunned and delighted that she is free. It is a remarkable story of survival, not just of her physical survival but the towering mental strength of a woman kept in such appalling conditions for so long," he said.

"It is almost beyond belief."

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