Colombia's FARC rebels free 10 hostages

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Colombia's leftist FARC rebels on Monday freed a group of 10 police officers and soldiers they had held hostage for more than 12 years, a Red Cross spokeswoman said.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Latin America's last major insurgent movement, said in February that it would release the 10 hostages, and also end the practice of kidnapping for ransom.

"The liberation of four soldiers and six police officers held by the FARC has been confirmed," a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, Maria Cristina Rivera, told reporters, reading an ICRC statement.

The operation to free the hostages took place over several hours "in a rural area between Meta and Guaviare departments," Rivera said at the airport in Villavicencio, some 110 kilometers (70 miles) south of the capital Bogota.

The spokeswoman added that the rebels had freed all those who they had promised to release. The FARC had initially promised to free the men in two stages on Monday and Wednesday, but eventually released them all at once.

The hostages boarded two Brazilian air force helicopters, which were made available to the ICRC and the group Colombians for Peace for the operation.

Relatives of the hostages – some of whom were held for 14 years – had been awaiting their arrival, along with a group of foreign well-wishers including Nobel peace laureate Rigoberta Menchu of Guatemala.

"This is going to happen, people can be reassured. It's a fact, this is a total success," said mediator Piedad Cordoba, a former senator and the head of Colombians for Peace.

The Colombian military has suspended all operations in the area ahead of the anticipated release.

A large sign was placed on the Villavicencio cathedral, reading, "We celebrate the return to life and liberty of our country's heroes."

Upon their release, the hostages were to be sent to Bogota for medical attention.

The FARC has already released about 20 other hostages in a similar manner, with the assistance of Brazil, requested by the rebels as a measure of neutrality.

Other hostages have been saved by the Colombian army, including former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt in July 2008.

The FARC has nevertheless continued to clash with army forces.

Last week, Colombian troops killed at least 36 suspected FARC rebels and captured four in an army offensive in the east-central department of Meta, according to officials.

The FARC, founded in 1964, is believed to have about 9,000 fighters in mountainous and jungle areas of Colombia, according to government estimates.

It is believed to still hold more than 100 civilian hostages.