News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who was held hostage during more than 6 years by Marxist guerrillas and freed Wednesday by the Colombian army, said the flawlessly executed raid could only be compared to the operations carried out by the Israeli army.

"The operation was absolutely perfect. No shot was fired and nobody was killed," 46-year-old French-Colombian Betancourt told the press when she got off the plane at Catma military base near Bogota. She was released along with three Americans and 11 members of the Colombian police forces.
 
According to reports in the Israeli press, former Israeli army officers and commanders from elite units trained the Colombian security forces that launched the operation to free Betancourt and the other hostages. Colombian security forces have been trained in Israel and Colombia has hired a number of former Israeli army generals and officers to advise on improving its intelligence and paramilitary capabilities.