Three Americans who Gov. Bill Richardson was working to free were among 15 hostages rescued today by the Colombian government from a leftist rebel group.
The operation by Colombian military spies led to the guerrillas giving up Americans Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell, former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and 11 others without a single injury, the Associated Press reported.
After being asked by the families of the three American defense contractors to intervene,
In a statement released today,
“I worked hard for the release of these hostages, and I am glad that the rescue operation appears to have been conducted in a safe manner, resulting in a minimal loss of life, if any,”
The Americans, employees of Northrop Grumman Corp., had been held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia since 2003 when their drug-surveillance plane crashed. They were the longest-held American hostages in the world, according to the Associated Press.
Richardson, a global troubleshooter and former U.N. ambassador, has negotiated the release of American hostages in