Freed hostage reunited with her children

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) | Former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt embraced her children for the first time in six years Thursday, saying the thought of them helped her stay alive until a daring rescue plucked her and 14 other hostages from the jungle.

“Nirvana, paradise - that must be very similar to what I feel at this moment,” Mrs. Betancourt said, fighting back tears as her son reached over to kiss her. “It was because of them that I kept up my will to get out of that jungle.”

On her first morning of freedom, Mrs. Betancourt also visited the church that holds the remains of her father, who died while she was in captivity. Reporters and camera crews swarmed around her while adoring Colombians applauded as she left the church.

Mrs. Betancourt raced to the stairway of the French government plane that flew her children to Bogota, throwing her arms around Lorenzo, 19, and Melanie, 22.

“The last time I saw my son, Lorenzo was a little kid and I could carry him around,” she said. “I told them, they’re going to have to put up with me now, because I’m going to be stuck to them like chewing gum.”

Mrs. Betancourt, 46, was airlifted to freedom Wednesday in an audacious operation involving military spies who tricked the rebels into handing over their most prized hostages - including three U.S. military contractors - without firing a shot.

Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said the mission “will go into history for its audacity and effectiveness.” He also acknowledged the risks: “If this had failed, I would have had to resign,” he told Caracol Radio on Thursday.

President Alvaro Uribe, in a celebratory news conference flanked by the freed Colombian hostages, said he isn’t interested in “spilling blood” and that he wants the FARC to know he seeks “a path to peace, total peace.”

President Bush said Thursday that Mr. Uribe had called a day earlier “to give me the good news,” and said he congratulated the Colombian leader.

“I’m proud of our relationship with Colombia, and I’m proud of my friend,” Mr. Bush said of Mr. Uribe.

In an apparently unrelated release, FARC guerrillas on Thursday freed Norwegian-Colombian hostage Alf Onshuus Nino, a 31-year-old mathematics teacher at the University of the Andes in Bogota, Norway’s foreign ministry announced. Spokeswoman Kristin Melsom had no details about his release, but said it was unrelated to Wednesday’s rescue.

Bjoern Omdal Onshuus, a relative, told Norwegian radio that a ransom had been paid. Norwegian news media earlier had reported the FARC was demanding 1 million kroner, or $200,000, for his release.