Former Hostage Betancourt Reunited With Children After Stunning Rescue

Former Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt has been reunited with her children, less than a day after a daring rescue in which she was freed after more than six years in rebel captivity.

Betancourt embraced and kissed her son and daughter Thursday in Bogota, in their first meeting since she was taken hostage in 2002. Her children traveled from France with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.

Betancourt, who is to return to France with her children, spoke to reporters after the emotional reunion. She described her children as beautiful and also called for increased international efforts to help free those still being held captive by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a decades-old insurgency in the South American nation.

The French-Colombian politician and 14 other hostages - including three American defense contractors held for five years - were freed Wednesday.

Authorities say Colombian intelligence officials tricked the rebels into handing over their most prominent hostages for transport by helicopter to another location. Colombian officials say the hostages boarded what turned out to be a government helicopter that flew them to safety.

The White House says U.S. President George Bush was very excited about the release. Spokeswoman Dana Perino says the White House was aware of the operation in its planning stages, but it was conceived and executed by Colombians.

The three American U.S. government contractors: Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell were flown to a U.S Air Force base in Texas, where they are being reunited with their loved ones. They were captured in 2003 when their plane crashed during a counter-drug operation.

Betancourt was seized in 2002 while campaigning for the Colombian presidency.

The United States, Colombia and European Union have designated the FARC as a terrorist organization. The group is still believed to be holding more than 700 hostages in jungle locations.