Colombia rescues hostages during McCain trip

— -- The dramatic rescue of three U.S. hostages from a rebel camp in the Colombian jungle Wednesday delivered a strategic victory for a key U.S. ally on the same day as a visit by Sen. John McCain.

The American defense contractors were among 15 hostages who were freed unharmed after Colombian troops, acting with U.S. military support, tricked the leftist guerrillas into loading them onto an army helicopter. Despite years of captivity during which the hostages suffered from tropical diseases and were often chained by the neck, most said they were in relatively good health.

"They got us out grandly," said Ingrid Betancourt, a former Colombian presidential candidate and French citizen whose captivity had become a worldwide cause since her capture in 2002.

McCain said he was "pleased with the success of this very high-risk operation," which followed his two-day trip to highlight Colombia's role as an ally in the U.S. war on drugs. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee was briefed about the rescue by Colombia's president after departing.

McCain and other U.S. officials said the operation had been planned for months and the timing was a coincidence, although its success could bolster efforts to push a stalled U.S.-Colombia trade deal through Congress.

Colombia has received $6.2 billion in U.S. aid since 2000 to fight the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a group that is deeply involved in cocaine smuggling to the United States but has suffered several recent military defeats.

"We've been working for a long time" to rescue the hostages, said Tom Shannon, the Bush administration's top diplomat for Latin America.

President Bush called Colombia's president to congratulate him. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama called the rescue "wonderful news."

Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said the troops posed as aid workers and offered to fly the hostages to a meeting with a rebel leader. The hostages jumped and cheered when they were finally told they were being rescued, Betancourt said.