Betancourt reunite with children after rescue from rebels in Colombia
4/7/2008 17:52
Former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt was reunited
with her children in the capital Bogota yesterday, following her rescue from a
FARC camp by the Colombian army.
Colombian-French Betancourt's daughter
Melanie and son Lorenzo arrived in Bogota from France yesterday, aboard a plane
arranged for by the French government.
Betancourt, who had been kidnapped by
the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in February 2002, hugged her
children tearfully at the plane's door at the military airport of
Catam.
Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and several more of Betancourt's
relatives also traveled to Colombia on the same plane.
The Colombian army
rescued Betancourt, three US contractors and 11 Colombian soldiers on Wednesday
from the jungles of Guaviare, where they had been kept hostage.
"I'm happy to
be back again with my children, after almost seven years," tearful Betancourt
said.
The moment of reuniting with her family was like "nirvana, paradise",
she added.
"They are my children, my pride, my reason for living," Betancourt
said.
Betancourt and her children have left Colombia for
Paris.
Xinhua
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