Touching reunion for Betancourt after freedom

BOGOTA
Colombia's rescue of 15 rebel-held hostages, including politician Ingrid Betancourt and three Americans, was a severe blow to Latin America's oldest left-wing insurgency and a coup for President Alvaro Uribe.
Betancourt, a dual French-Colombian citizen and former presidential candidate, had been held for more than six years by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, and was its best-known captive.
The rescue of 15 hostages in a bloodless operation on Wednesday that involved tricking the rebels, bolstered Uribe as he fends off a political scandal over bribery charges and further weakened the negotiating position of the FARC. The group is reeling after the death of three top leaders.
The successful mission could shore up investor confidence in Uribe, a US ally who is hugely popular at home for his security drive against the FARC and his free-market policies to foster investment and economic growth.
Betancourt, 46, a mother of two, wept and prayed as she hugged relatives at a Bogota air base while the three US defense contractors -- Keith Stansell, Marc Gonsalves and Thomas Howes -- were flown to the United States after five years in captivity.
"I feel like I am returning from a journey into the past," said Betancourt, dressed in a combat jacket and appearing in decent health.
Eleven kidnapped soldiers and police also were released after the 22-minute rescue operation in the southern jungle province of Guaviare. Colombia said the mission involved infiltration of rebel leadership and soldiers acting as aid workers who pretended to transport hostages to a FARC commander's camp. "It was an intelligence operation comparable with the greatest epics of human history but without a drop of blood being spilled, without one weapon being fired," Uribe said.