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

Washington - The three US nationals who were among the 15 hostages freed from leftist rebels in Colombia arrived early Thursday in the US state of Texas.

Bogota - Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on Wedne

Bogota  - The Colombia