Hostage cries tears of joy over freedom

Source: Agencies  |   2008-7-5  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

Former hostage Ingrid Betancourt is kissed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy as she arrives at Villacoublay air base, outside Paris, yesterday. She was freed in a aring rescue on Wednesday. More in photo gallery

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"I CRY with joy," released hostage Ingrid Betancourt said yesterday. And she did.

After six years of being held hostage in the Colombian jungle, the former Colombian presidential candidate and French citizen flew back to her beloved France to be embraced as an icon by the country that raised her.

A hero's welcome, led by President Nicolas Sarkozy, greeted Betancourt from the moment she left the plane at an airbase southwest of Paris. A dual French-Colombian citizen, Betancourt was campaigning for Colombia's presidency when she was kidnapped in 2002.

Betancourt won a hug from Sarkozy, who called her "radiant," and a kiss from first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. Talking excitedly and smiling broadly, they were joined by Betancourt's children, other family members and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.

"It's a very, very moving moment for me: Breathing the air of France, being with you," Betancourt told supporters and reporters gathered on the windswept tarmac. "France is my home and you are my family.

"I have cried a lot during this time from pain and indignation. Today, I am crying from joy," she said, her voice choked and eyes moist.

Betancourt's captivity caused widespread concern in France, and her supporters held candlelight vigils and marches around the country urging efforts to free her from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

Her release on Wednesday in an ingenious Colombian military operation along with 14 other hostages prompted celebrations around France.

Sarkozy said Betancourt's rescue sends a message to people in difficult situations that "it's worth it to fight. There is no such thing as inevitability."

Betancourt, her family and supporters later went to a party at the presidential palace staged in her honor. Hundreds of people, some carrying Colombian or French flags and many with cameras, lined up behind police barriers around the Elysee palace in hopes of seeing her.