MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Betancourt praises Colombian Army and President Uribe

Ingrid Bentancourt and the rest of the hostages are welcome by Pte. Uribe

Former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt said she was grateful to the Colombian Army and President Alvaro Uribe for her liberation on Wednesday together with other fourteen hostages from the FARC rebel group.

The rescue operation code named "Check" was organized and executed by Colombian military intelligence and accomplished in the middle of the jungle without firing a single shot putting an end to an ordeal of years of captivity for the group of fifteen. "It was an impeccable military operation. I'm proud of my Army and most grateful to President Uribe and all the people in the world that never forgot us. But now we must work for the liberation of the other hostage that remain in the hands of FARC", said Betancourt who was abducted in 2002 and was FARC most high profile captive. Wearing military fatigues, a pale Ms Betancourt smiled as she emerged with other hostages from a military plane in the Colombian capital Bogota to be greeted by her mother and husband. "God, this is a miracle... There is no historical precedent for such a perfect operation," she told media at the air base. French President Nicholas Sarkozy who was joined by Ms Betancourt's family at the Elysee Palace in Paris, said: "A nightmare of more than six years has ended." Ms Betancourt's son, Lorenzo Delloye-Betancourt, told the news conference it was "the best moment of my life". His sister Melanie said it was like "emerging from a bad dream". The siblings are being flown to Colombia to be reunited with their 46-year-old mother. Colombian Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos said no-one had been hurt in Wednesday's operation in the southern province of Guaviare and that the 15 hostages were in relatively good health. The 15 rescued include eleven members of the Colombian security forces who had been captured in various rebel attacks, three US contractors and Ms. Betancourt. Santos said the FARC rebels had been tricked into handing over the hostages by soldiers posing as members of a fictitious non-government organization that supposedly would fly the hostages to a camp to meet rebel leader Alfonso Cano. "The helicopters, which in reality were from the army, picked up the hostages in Guaviare and flew them to freedom," Mr Santos said. The three US contractors rescued and in captivity since 2003, Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell were flown home to the US to be reunited with their families. World leaders welcomed the news and celebrations erupted on the streets of Colombian cities as crowds hailed the jungle rescue in a country plagued for decades by kidnappings. The news is yet another blow to the once-mighty FARC following the death of its legendary leader Manuel Marulanda in March, along with two other members of the guerrilla group's seven-man ruling body. However FARC holds more than 40 hostages.