Ingrid Betancourt in 2001 AP photo via BBC

BOGOTA, COLUMBIA (ANS) -- French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt, held in jungle captivity for more than six years by the rebel FARC group, says that her rescue by government troops is "a miracle."

Wearing military fatigues, a pale Ms Betancourt smiled as she emerged with other hostages from a military plane in the Colombian capital Bogota to be greeted by her mother and husband, says a report posted to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) website.

"God, this is a miracle...There is no historical precedent for such a perfect operation," she told media at the air base.

Breaking into tears, she appealed to FARC to free the other hostages and make peace. Ms Betancourt had been and was their highest-profile captive.

According to the BBC, video pictures released last November had shown Ms Betancourt looking gaunt and frail.

Accounts from freed hostages that she was in danger of dying all heightened the sense of urgency surrounding her fate, the BBC correspondent said.

Ms Betancourt has dual citizenship as the result of marriage to a French diplomat -- since dissolved -- which produced two children, who worked hard to keep her captivity in the spotlight.

The politician was kidnapped in February 2002 while campaigning for the presidency of Columbia in territory controlled by the FARC.

The BBC reported that French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who had made her rescue a priority, said he was very happy. Her children, who spoke of their joy, are to fly to meet her.

Mr Sarkozy, who was joined by Ms Betancourt's family at the Elysee Palace in Paris, said: "A nightmare of more than six years has ended."

Ms Betancourt's son, Lorenzo Delloye-Betancourt, told the news conference it was "the best moment of my life." His sister Melanie said it was like "emerging from a bad dream."

The siblings are being flown to Colombia to be reunited with their 46-year-old mother.

The BBC reported that Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said no-one had been hurt in Wednesday's operation in the southern province of Guaviare and that the total of 15 rescued hostages were in relatively good health.

In its report, the BBC said that among the hostages were 11 members of the Colombian security forces who had been captured in various rebel attacks. He said the FARC rebels had been tricked into handing over the hostages by soldiers posing as members of a fictitious non-government organization that supposedly would fly the hostages to a camp to meet rebel leader Alfonso Cano.

"The helicopters, which in reality were from the army, picked up the hostages in Guaviare and flew them to freedom," Mr Santos said.

The three Americans rescued were defense department contract workers captured after their light aircraft crashed in the Colombian jungle in 2003, the Colombian military said.

Mr Santos said the trio -- Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell -- had been flown home to the US to be reunited with their families.

World leaders welcomed the news and celebrations erupted on the streets of Colombian cities as crowds hailed the jungle rescue in a country plagued for decades by kidnappings, the BBC said.

The BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Medellin says the successful operation by Colombian security forces is a political and military coup for the country's government.

As such, it will relieve the pressure on President Alvaro Uribe to negotiate with the FARC -- the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- allowing him to continue with his US-backed military offensive against the group, the BBC correspondent said.

The FARC had hoped to exchange some 60 political hostages for hundreds of rebels held by the Colombian government, he says, but with Ms Betancourt's rescue they have lost a powerful negotiating tool.

The FARC has been fighting to overthrow the Colombian government for 40 years. The FARC still holds more than 40 hostages.

INGRID BETANCOURT
**Born in Columbia on December 25, 1961
**Grows up in Paris
**1989: Returns to Colombia
**1994: Elected to lower house
**1998: Becomes a senator
**2002: Kidnapped by Farc rebels

STEPPING STONES TO FREEDOM
**Jan, 2008: Betancourt aide Clara Rojas and ex-congresswoman Consuelo Gonzalez freed by FARC
**Feb, 2008: FARC vows to hold three US hostages for 60 years
**March, 2008 : Colombian forces raid rebel camp in Ecuador and kill FARC commander Raul Reyes
**April, 2008: FARC says Ecuador raid has "gravely" harmed efforts to free Ms Betancourt
**July, 2008: Colombian military frees Ms Betancourt, the three US contractors and 11 other hostages

** Michael Ireland, Chief Correspondent of ANS, is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station. Michael's involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- Michael Ireland Media Missionary (MIMM) -- of ACT International at: Artists in Christian Testimony (ACT) International.