Colombian officials aired Friday recently seized videotapes of rebel held hostages, among them a former presidential candidate and US defense contractors.

The tape has been the first evidence in years that the hostages are alive.

Colombian officials reported the tapes were confiscated after the arrest Thursday of three suspected members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC.

One tape shows French and Colombian citizenship Ingrid Betancourt who was kidnapped in 2002 as she campaigned for the presidency.

On the tape Betancourt looks thin and pale and appears to be in chains, sitting on a chair in a jungle setting, not saying a word.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said France would "redouble efforts" to secure Mrs Betancourt's freedom, as cited by BBC.

"I have always said we will never forget Ingrid Betancourt. We know she is alive. Now we have to fight with all our might to free her from her ordeal," Sarkozy said.

Another tape shows US defense contractors Thomas Howes, Keith Stansell and Marc Gonsalves, abducted by Farc guerillas after their plane crashed in Columbia in 2003. The men are also shown in a jungle backdrop not saying anything.

The U.S. embassy in Bogota has called the three Americans the longest-held U.S. hostages currently in captivity.

The Colombian government said it had also recovered a series of letters apparently written by the hostages but did not reveal details.

The tapes come days after FARC were criticized by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez for failing to provide proof that the hostages are alive.

FARC Marxist rebels are notorious for many guerrilla actions in the Seventies.

Established in 1964 as the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party, FARC is Colombia's oldest, largest, and best-equipped rebel organisation.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!