Bogota - After eight years in captivity, the former Colombian parliamentarian Oscar Tulio Lizcano managed to flee his captors, the left-wing FARC rebels, with the help of his guard, the country's top defence official said Sunday.

Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos said Lizcano and a FARC member with the alias of Isaza fled three days ago in the jungles of western Colombia and encountered a military unit, which brought them to safety.

Correcting an earlier version of the incident that said Lizcano had been freed by the military, Santos said increased military pressure on the rebels helped the escape.

President Alvaro Uribe offered Isaza, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia guard who helped the escape, mercy and a new life in France.

Lizcano was in relatively good health after the long years as a hostage. He suffered nutritional deficits and needed psychological help.

Ingrid Betancourt, the one-time Colombian presidential candidate who was freed after years in captivity along with 11 other hostages through a dramatic military trick in July, was happy about the news of the most recent escape. She called on FARC to change its ways.

FARC has been fighting a guerrilla war against the Colombian government for nearly 45 years in a conflict inextricably entwined with the country's illicit drug trade.

Lizcano belonged to a small group of 29 politicians and military figures that FARC wanted to exchange for all imprisoned FARC rebels. Hundreds of other kidnap victims are being held for ransom.

The rebels have been weakened since Uribe's first term of office in 2002, but political observers say it's unlikely that the government can win a military victory over FARC. (dpa)