Betancourt reunites with children in Colombia

2008-07-04 14:11:21 [ Big Normal Small ]    　Comment

BOGOTA, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt was reunited with her children in the capital Bogota on Thursday, 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 on Thursday, 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 U.S. 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.

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