French-Colombian hostage rescued
Updated
Colombia's defence ministry says French-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt, three US nationals and 11 Colombian soldiers have been rescued from FARC rebels in a jungle operation in the south east of the country.
Ms Betancourt, had been held since 2002 by the Marxist rebels, while the three Americans were taken hostage in 2003.
The Australian Greens leader, Bob Brown, is a friend of Ingrid Betancourt.
He says she's an extraordinary person.
"When she was in Australia at the global greens conference in 2001, her speech about defying corruption brought the house down," he said.
"She knew she was under death threat when she returned to Colombia, and within a few months she was indeed kidnapped and taken off to the jungle by the FARC guerrillas."
