Four foreign hostages rescued in Colombia in good health

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Source: CCTV.com | 07-04-2008 13:58

Four foreign hostages rescued by the Colombian military have returned to their home countries, or have been reunited with their families. The four were among the 15 hostages held captive by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC. Thanks to Wednesday's bloodless rescue mission, the foreign hostages are all in good condition.

This image released by the US embassy in Colombia shows  US contractors Keith Stansell (L), Marc Gonsalves and  Thomas Howes (R) inside an aircraft in Colombia after  being rescued by Colombia's Army from the FARC, on July 2.  Three US defense contractors held hostage for more than  five years in Colombia are in good shape and have proved  to be very resilient, the US military said.(AFP/US Embassy)

Residents in Paris took to the streets on Thursday to celebrate the release of Ingrid Betancourt from her hostage ordeal in Colombia.

The former Colombian presidential candidate was abducted in February 2002.

Betancourt, who considers herself both French and Colombian, was rescued two days ago along with 11 other kidnapped Colombian soldiers and three American hostages.

The US military says three of its contractors are in good condition after their ordeal in Colombia.

They had been held by FARC since February 2003.

Wednesday's bloodless military operation in the southern jungle of Colombia took only 22-minutes.

The mission involved the infiltration of the rebel leadership and soldiers acting as aid workers, who were supposedly going to transport the hostages to the FARC commander's camp.