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.

A US military plane brought the three, who were employees of the defence company Northrop Grumman in Colombia, back to the United States.

They had been among the 15 hostages, including former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who were freed from the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) by the Colombian military on Wednesday. (dpa)