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Freed Colombian hostages greeted with tears, kisses

Two women freed by Colombian rebels were greeted with kisses and tears after years of captivity in the jungle, amid calls for the release of hundreds more hostages still held.

Clara Rojas and former legislator Consuelo Gonzalez de Perdomo landed in Caracas aboard a private jet on Thursday hours after Venezuelan helicopters plucked them from a secret location deep in the Colombian jungle.

Soon after, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez greeted the two with military honors at his presidential palace, decorated with Colombian and Venezuelan flags.

The long-anticipated release, the first of its kind in more than five years, was welcomed around the world.

"The [UN] Secretary-General welcomes the release of the two hostages that had been held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia [FARC] and hopes that this gesture will lead to the speedy release of the many remaining kidnap victims," UN chief Ban Ki-moon's spokeswoman said.

In Colombia, President Alvaro Uribe expressed gratitude toward Chavez, after months of escalating tension with the leftist leader.

"I must acknowledge the process put forth by President Chavez has worked. He has obtained the unilateral and unconditional release of our countrywomen," Uribe said.

On the tarmac in Caracas, Rojas, 44, covered her 76-year-old mother in kisses and said she looked forward to being reunited with her son.

The rebels took the boy away from her when he was eight months old. He was born by cesarean section in a jungle camp in April 2004.

Rojas said she found out her son was alive and in government care on Dec. 31 when Uribe said he was not in rebel hands.

Gonzalez and her daughters Patricia and Maria Fernanda hugged and cried on the tarmac in their first reunion since her abduction in 2001. The 57-year-old former lawmaker, whose husband died while she was in captivity, also held her two-year-old granddaughter for the first time.

The two women appeared in good health, although they had been forced to walk 20 days in the jungle to the spot where they were released, Rojas said.
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