'You can't imagine the horror'

2008-02-28 17:00

Caracas - Four Colombian former lawmakers freed by Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas spoke of their ordeal in the jungles of Colombia, as the daughter of Ingrid Betancourt, one of the remaining hostages, expressed her anguish.

Luis Eladio Perez, one of those released, told reporters in Caracas: "It's the greatest feeling: to be born again.

"You can't imagine the horrors of living seven years in the sub-human conditions we were kept," he added.

Perez and the three other freed hostages - Gloria Polanco, Orlando Beltran and Jorge Gechem - were recovered on Wednesday by Red Cross and Venezuelan officials and flown in on Venezuelan aircraft.

He explained he had survived a heart attack, three diabetic comas and a kidney malfunction because of tropical diseases.

He also said he feared for Betancourt, the most high-profile prisoner still held by the FARC, and vowed to do all to have her freed as well.

Betancourt, a 46-year-old French-Colombian who was seized in 2002 as she campaigned for the Colombian presidency, was "very, very sick, physically and morally spent," he said, adding that he last saw her on February 4.

In Paris meanwhile, Betancourt's daughter Melanie Delloye expressed her concern at Perez's account.

"Mother is alive, but I don't know for how much longer and I know that we have to get her out of there as quickly as possible.

"So I am extremely upset about it. I hope that the FARC and the Colombian government are going to reach a humanitarian agreement as quickly as possible."

Perez said three Americans captured in 2003 by the rebels were also faring badly, adding that they would likely remain in captivity unless a FARC leader who was jailed for 60 years in January gets his sentence reduced by US courts.

The four hostages released on Wednesday had spent more than six years in the hands of the Marxist FARC, who constantly moved them around in tropical woodland to prevent their rescue by the Colombian military.

In both cases, FARC said it would only hand the hostages over to services commanded by leftwing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has rocky relations with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

Chavez made a "from the heart" appeal to top FARC leader Manuel Marulanda late on Wednesday, to move Betancourt to a safe location "urgently."

"I'll send you a message through our regular channels to see how we can go about releasing Ingrid," Chavez said during a meeting with reporters.

The rebels' insistence on Chavez heading up the two recovery operations appeared to be intended to embarrass the Colombian government, which has been resisting their demands.

The Venezuelan leader's fierce anti-US rhetoric runs counter to Uribe's pro-Washington position.

Chavez has nettled his neighbour by suggesting the FARC be dropped from US and EU terror organisation lists and be regarded as a legitimate armed political force.

- AFP