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Former hostage Rojas reunited with son

This picture released by Colombian family welfare authorities shows a former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) hostage, Colombian politician Clara Rojas, hugging her son Emmanuel at the Catam military airport in Bogota on Sunday. PHOTO: AFP

After three years apart, recently released Colombian hostage Clara Rojas was able to embrace her young son, who was fathered by one of her guerrilla captors but taken away from her months after he was born.

Rojas gave birth to Emmanuel in 2004, but the guerrillas separated her from the child when he was eight months old. A peasant delivered him to Colombian social services, which -- unaware of his true identity -- placed him in a foster home in the capital, Bogota, where he has been for the past two years.

During the two-hour encounter at a foster home on Sunday, Emmanuel practiced drawing with markers with his mother at his side.

Photographs released by Colombia's child welfare agency also showed Emmanuel and Rojas in a close hug, their arms wrapped around each other.

Authorities have said they hope to deliver the boy to Rojas' permanent custody in the coming days.

Rojas earlier said Emmanuel had made her a gift, and they were shown apparently exchanging a paper with artwork on it.

Rojas returned on Sunday to Bogota nearly six years after she was kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

She was visibly emotional as she was greeted by the defense minister and chief peace negotiator.

"I am extremely moved to be back in my land. ... I feel like I've been reborn, I am back to life," Rojas said. But she added: "This is not a total happiness because many [hostages] remain and we are waiting for them."

The story of Emmanuel has transfixed Colombia since a Colombian journalist first reported in a 2006 expose book that the child was born to Rojas as the product of a consensual relationship with one of her captors, reportedly a rank-and-file guerrilla named Rigo.

Rojas, however, has not revealed much about Emmanuel's father. She said she does not know whether he is aware of Emmanuel and she had heard during her captivity that he may have been killed.

On Thursday the FARC handed over Rojas and another kidnapped politician, former congresswoman Consuelo Gonzalez, to a Venezuelan-led delegation which then moved the hostages to Caracas.

The FARC holds nearly four-dozen high-profile captives including three US defense contractors and French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt, who was abducted alongside Rojas and remains with the rebels.

Shortly before Rojas' release, authorities discovered Emmanuel living in the foster home and guessed his identity based on what little was known about him, including that he had a fractured arm. DNA tests later confirmed their suspicions.

Rojas has worn a photo of her son around her neck since she was freed, and child psychologists showed the boy pictures of her before their meeting to try to ease the transition away from foster care.
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