BOGOTA (Reuters) - French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt, three Americans and 11 other hostages were rescued from leftist guerrillas by Colombian troops on Wednesday after years in captivity, the government said.

All of the former captives were in reasonably good health after being held in secret jungle camps, Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said.

Colombia's former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt seen in this undated file photo before her kidnappnig six years ago by Farc rebel. (REUTERS/Files)

The rescue was a huge coup for popular President Alvaro Uribe, an anti-guerrilla hard-liner who has used billions of dollars in U.S. aid to push the rebels onto the defensive, cut crime and spark economic growth.

Betancourt was the highest profile captive held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC, Latin America's oldest surviving left-wing insurgency.

The rescue was carried out in the southern jungle province of Guaviare and involved tricking the guerrillas, Santos said.

Soldiers posed as members of a fictitious non-government organization that supposedly would fly the hostages by helicopter to a camp to meet with rebel leader Alfonso Cano.

"The helicopters, which in reality were from the army, picked up the hostages in Guaviare and flew them to freedom," Santos said.

Fifteen long-term kidnap victims were rescued in all, including Betancourt and the three Americans, he said.

"This was an unprecedented operation," Santos told reporters. "It will go down in history for its audaciousness and effectiveness."

The FARC has been holding about 40 high-profile hostages it has sought to exchange for jailed rebels.

Betancourt, 46, a former presidential candidate, had become a symbol of the suffering of the hostages as her dual French-Colombian nationality helped draw worldwide attention to their plight.

BETANCOURT AT MILITARY BASE

In Paris, the office of French President Nicolas Sarkozy confirmed Betancourt's release.

"Mrs Betancourt is at a military base in Colombia," an official of Sarkozy's office said.

Betancourt was kidnapped by the FARC in 2002 and was last seen in a rebel video at the end of last year looking gaunt and despondent.

"I am filled with happiness," Betancourt's sister, Astrid, told Colombian radio. "These have been long years of waiting."

France had made vigorous efforts to seek Betancourt's freedom.

"I'd like to thank everyone involved, including President Sarkozy," Herve Marro, spokesman for an Ingrid Betancourt support group in Paris, told French TV station I-Tele.

The Americans freed are former Defense Department contract workers Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell and Thomas Howes. They were captured in 2003 after their light aircraft crashed in the jungles while on a counternarcotics operation.

U.S. President George W. Bush spoke by telephone with Uribe on Wednesday afternoon.

"President Bush congratulated President Uribe, telling him he is a 'strong leader.' President Uribe thanked President Bush for his support and confidence in the Government of Colombia," Gordon Johndroe, White House National Security Council spokesman, said in Washington.

CONDITIONS FOR TALKS

The FARC has demanded that Uribe pull back troops from an area the size of New York City to facilitate talks.

Uribe, whose father was killed in a botched FARC kidnapping years ago, refuses to accept that condition. But he has offered a smaller safe haven under international observation in an area where there are no armed forces or armed groups.

The outlawed rebel army, once a 17,000-member force able to attack cities and kidnap almost at will, has been driven back into remote areas and now has about 9,000 combatants. The guerrillas have lost three major leaders this year.

Listed as a terrorist group by U.S. and European officials, the FARC has used Colombia's cocaine trade to fund its operations.

In announcing the rescue operation, Santos called on the guerrillas to give up their arms and negotiate a truce.

Michael Shifter, vice-president for Policy at the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank, said the rescue showed that the FARC was in a serious organizational crisis.

"The Colombian government took advantage of the FARC's weakness and disarray to carry out the mission. It was a big gamble, but it worked," he said.

"Uribe is a risk-taker and is full of surprises. Not that he needs it, but this remarkable turn of events will further boost his popularity."

(Additional reporting by Emmanuel Jarry and Sudip Kar-Guptain Paris; Adriana Garcia and Tabassum Zakaria in Washington)

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