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PARIS : Former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt on Saturday left a Paris hospital after medical tests which her sister said were "satisfactory" following her six years as a hostage of rebels in the jungle.
"The results are satisfactory. There will have to be further tests. There are some things to watch, but nothing that is cause for alarm," Astrid Betancourt told AFP.
"She must have some rest because of accumulated fatigue," she added.
The 46-year-old former hostage made a hurried entrance to the Val-de-Grace military hospital in Paris early Saturday without saying a word to waiting journalists.
Snatched from the grip of Marxist FARC rebels in a Colombian army operation on Wednesday along with three US hostages and 11 Colombians, Betancourt arrived in France two days later on board a French presidential plane from Bogota.
President Nicolas Sarkozy on Saturday called his counterparts in Ecuador and Argentina, Rafael Correa and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, to thank them for their support in the freeing of the hostages.
He plans to do the same with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in the next few days, according to a statement from the presidential office.
After being feted by Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace, Betancourt told reporters on Friday that she felt "in great shape" although she developed a string of ailments while in captivity, possibly including hepatitis.
She had been briefly examined in Bogota by Sarkozy's physician, Christophe Fernandez, who said he was "reassured", without ruling out a stay in hospital.
Betancourt said in a radio interview earlier she had been chained up night and day for three years by her captors.
Asked whether she was tortured, she replied: "Yes, yes." She said she saw her captors lapsing into "diabolical behaviour."
"It was so monstrous that I think they themselves were disgusted," she said.
She has also paid tribute to one of her fellow-captives, Colombian army corporal William Perez, saying he had saved her life thanks to some medical knowledge.
"When he saw I was no longer getting out of my hammock, and I refused even to take a bath because I had no strength, he came to see me, he did a diagnosis, and took it upon himself to restore me to life," she said.
Perez, who was freed along with Betancourt, said she was very ill, and could no longer eat.
Doctors have also warned against the psychological effects of captivity, following the initial euphoria, including depression and lack of self-confidence which could be lasting.
Betancourt herself, a devout Catholic, has said her faith helped her through her ordeal.
Meanwhile a video showing hostages sobbing with relief aboard a helicopter upon discovering they had been freed was shown Friday at a press conference by Colombia's military.
The video was released to counter questions about the military's dramatic and bloodless coup, Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos said, denying reports that it was arranged in advance with the help of 20 million dollars (12.7 million euros) paid to bribe the hostages' guards.
Bogota insists the 15 captives were rescued Wednesday after Colombian soldiers disguised as rebels arrived at a jungle hideout of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and tricked the guerrillas into handing them over, ostensibly to be transferred to another FARC site.
Santos also vehemently denied that foreign nationals had taken part in either the planning or execution of the operation.
But Rodolfo Rios, an attorney for one of the FARC members taken prisoner during the rescue, said his client had told him that "foreign nationals were aboard the rescue helicopter."
Rios said their nationality was unknown.
Army chief General Mario Montoya warned the FARC against harming any of the dozens and perhaps hundreds of hostages it still holds.
Defence Minister Santos also said the rescue operation was moved forward by 10 days because Colombian authorities feared word of it would leak out.
Operation Jaque "was moved forward 10 days so that the terrorists didn't find out about the infiltration," he said in a speech to Spain's Foundation for Social Research and Analysis (FAES) think tank.
Santos denied it was a strictly military operation.
"The most important factor in carrying out with the operation was that the risk to the hostages was minimal because it was not a military operation, armed people did not participate," he said.
- AFP /ls
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