Ex-Hostage Ingrid Betancourt on A New Mission, in Colombia

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Bogota,: Former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt pledged to press Latin American leaders to help get Marxist FARC rebels to disarm, after arriving in Colombia for the first time since she was rescued from guerrillas after a six-year hostage ordeal.

"I am so very happy to be here," she said shortly after arriving at Bogota's El Dorado international airport at 0230 IST today where she and her mother Yolanda Pulecio, were greeted by French ambassador Jean-Michel Marlaud.

Betancourt, 46, who holds dual Colombian and French citizenship, flew to France with her family three weeks after her release on July 2. Yesterday, she was whisked to a private meeting with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe at the CATAM military airport adjacent to El Dorado.

She said that she would visit Quito, Lima, Santiago, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Brazil, La Paz and Caracas, in a statement which did not give dates for her visits amid security concerns.

Her goal is to ask presidents to join a renewed drive to get the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the region's largest and longest-fighting rebel force, to lay down their arms, according to the statement obtained by media.

Betancourt's visit to Colombia five months after her rescue will be brief since she has often stated she fears for her life here after receiving death threats from FARC rebels, her former captors, a diplomat told reporters.

The online edition of Brazil's O Globo daily said Betancourt would meet with Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva in Sao Paulo on Friday.


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