Colombian leader orders rescue of hostages
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on Friday ordered the military to rescue a French-Colombian ex-senator and three Americans held by leftist guerrillas.

"Generals, we are going to rescue Ingrid Betancourt and the three Americans, we are not going to play about with these bandits," Uribe said at a public event.

Betancourt, a 45-year-old former senator and presidential candidate, has been held hostage since 2002.

Uribe said military action would be taken to rescue the hostages captured by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which had kidnapped dozens of police, soldiers and politicians for ransom or political purposes.

The news about the hostages in the Amazon jungle camp were released after police officer John Frank Pinchao escaped on April 28 after eight years as a captive of the FARC.

Betancourt was caught during a presidential campaigning in 2002 and the three Americans in 2003 after a plane crash.

Newly-installed French President Nicolas Sarkozy telephoned Uribe to discuss rescue efforts on Thursday and met Betancourt's family on Friday.

Uribe has offered to hold talks with the FARC but the rebels want to swap some 50 hostages for 500 jailed FARC members.