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PARIS: World leaders were swift to welcome news of the rescue Wednesday of Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages from Colombian rebels.
French president Nicholas Sarkozy hailed the "successful military operation" that freed Betancourt, and called on the Marxist FARC rebels which had taken her captive to end their "absurd" struggle.
"Today there is immense joy. All of France is happy about the rescue of Ingrid Betancourt," said Sarkozy.
"I would like to say to Ingrid... that we are proud of your courage, that we are happy for you," he added.
Celebrations broke out on the streets of Colombian cities as residents hailed the jungle rescue in a country plagued for decades by kidnappings.
Betancourt, a former Colombian presidential candidate, three US nationals and 11 other hostages were rescued from Marxist FARC rebels by a Colombian military operation after years in captivity.
US President George W. Bush congratulated Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.
"President Bush congratulated President Uribe, telling him he is a 'strong leader,'" after the military operation, said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon "warmly welcomes the rescue" of the hostages and called on the rebels "to immediately and unconditionally release the remaining hostages," his spokeswoman said.
France, which assumed the EU presidency earlier in the week, said the bloc's first thoughts were with Betancourt, but also expressed concern for "all those still being held hostage and their families and reaffirmed the determination to remain mobilised until their liberation."
The Vatican termed Betancourt's rescue "a positive sign" that points towards "reconciliation for a country which has suffered so much from violence," spokesman Federico Lombardi told AFP.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero sent a telegram to President Uribe to congratulate him and another to Betancourt's family.
The Spanish government was "hugely satisfied" by the hostage rescue and calls for the release of all the hostages held by the FARC, a government spokesman said.
Switzerland also applauded Colombia's government for successfully conducting the rescue of the hostages without any loss of life.
Latin American countries also welcomed the rescue of the hostages.
Betancourt was the most high-profile of about 700 people believed to have been taken captive by the FARC, a four-decade-old insurgency which figures on US and European Union lists of terrorist organisations.
France, Spain and Switzerland had undertaken unsuccessful missions to try to secure the release of Betancourt, who had been reported to be gravely ill, through negotiations with the Marxist rebel group.
Negotiations stalled after the killing of France's main rebel contact, Raul Reyes, in a Colombian military raid into Ecuador in March.
Betancourt, a dual national, became the international face of Colombia's tragic hostage crisis after she was seized in February 2002 during her long-shot bid for the presidency.
Her plight gained new urgency in February when a former hostage warned that she was very sick and morally spent, prompting tearful appeals for her release from her two children and her mother.
- AFP/yb
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