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Betancourt, who is reportedly in severely deteriorating health, was kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, in 2002.

Along with Betancourt, three Americans and 11 other hostages who were Colombian police were rescued from FARC. The rebel group is known to hold at least 750 hostages in the jungles of South America.

The freed include Americans Keith Stansell, Marc Gonsalves and Thomas Howes.

A senior U.S. State Department official told CNN that the families of the hostages had no idea that the rescue operation was taking place.

Stansell, Gonsalves and Howes have been held since February 13, 2003, when their single-engine plane crashed in mountains south of Bogota. The Americans were working for Northrop Grumman Corp. as part of a U.S.-funded counternarcotics effort.

Two other men on the plane, American pilot Tommy Janis and a Colombian, were shot to death by FARC. A rescue plane searching for the men crashed six weeks later, killing its American pilot, Butch Oliver, and another American crew member.

Santos said the rescue operation included a fact-finding effort to develop intelligence in the area, followed by the final phase, in which helicopters were used.
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The Colombian military had infiltrated the FARC leadership and arranged for the hostages to be taken to the south of the country, where they were to be picked up by a helicopter that the rebels believed was controlled by another group, Santos said.

A senior State Department official said the United States played no role in the operation, though it was briefed on it ahead of time. The official called the operation "brilliant" and "a huge success," saying it involved a deception operation against the FARC.

According to Pentagon officials, Colombians had told the United States about the operation in the past few days. The U.S. approved the plans but had no part in them.

The United States is offering medical support to the three American contractors, including a medical evacuation back to America.

William Bronfield, a senior U.S. ambassador, confirmed that the U.S. was briefed about the operation. He is on his way to the Colombian airbase where the hostages were taken.

Stansell, Gonsalves and Howes were last seen in a 2003 interview by a Colombian journalist who made his way into a FARC stronghold. The journalist's video was shown on CBS' "60 Minutes."

"To our country, we miss you, and we hope we return one day. We're alive and well," said Stansell, then 38, a systems analyst.

"We expect to get out of here one day. We can't say for sure," said Howes, then 50, a professional pilot. "But our main concern is the welfare of our families."

"I'm a proud American," said Gonsalves, then 31, also a systems analyst. "I look to you guys, and I ask for a diplomatic solution to get us home safe, please."

The plight of Betancourt, who has French and Colombian citizenship, has attracted worldwide attention.

She was abducted February 23, 2002, after venturing into rebel territory while campaigning for the Colombian presidency. Videos later showed a slim Betancourt, sitting silently in a jungle setting.

News of her deteriorating health came after the FARC released six hostages this year. One of the freed hostages, Luis Eladio Perez, said that Betancourt had suffered from chronic liver problems since 2004.

He said he last saw her February 4 this year.

"Ingrid made a sign for me to go to the bathroom, and she did the same, and we were able to talk for about five minutes," Perez said. "I saw she was very ill and wasting away. She looked much worse than in that 'proof-of-life' video the rebels filmed in October."

Betancourt "seemed desperate," even though "she told me to stay calm and that the guerillas were giving her vitamins and calcium," he said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy made a personal plea to Betancourt's captors in April.

"Ingrid's health has deteriorated so much that her life is in danger. Ingrid is in danger of imminent death," Sarkozy said. "You have the power to save a woman from death and revive hope for all the other hostages still held."

FARC has justified hostage-taking as a legitimate military tactic in a long-running and complex civil war that also has involved right-wing paramilitaries, government forces and drug traffickers.

Colombia, the United States and European Union consider the FARC a terrorist organization.