Paris - Former hostage Ingrid Betancourt arrived in Paris on Friday as questions aros

Bogota  - With tender strokes and tears, the liberated Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancour

Oslo - In development separate from the spectacular freeing of 15 hostages from leftist rebels in Colombia on Wednesday, Norway said Thursday that a Norwegian hostage had also been freed.

Madrid - Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has called Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to thank Spain for its constant support in Colombia's fight against the FARC guerrillas, me

Brussels - The European Union's top officials reacted with delight at the Colombian military operation which Wednesday ended in the release of 15 hostages, including former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt.

"I have just learned with relief and joy of the release of the hostages taken by (Colombian guerrilla movement) FARC ... I congratulate all those who worked for their release," European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso said in a statement in the early hours of Thursday.

"I am extremely relieved and very happy that Ingrid Betancourt's six-year nightmare as well as the captivity of three US citizens and 11 Colombian officials have finally come to an end," EU External Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said.

Amsterdam - Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen said on Thursday he was "extraordinarily excited" about the liberation of French-Colombian Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages by the Colombi