After being held for almost nine years by left-wing rebels, a Colombian policeman has escaped and was found by army vehicles on Wednesday April 16th.
Jhon Frank Pinchao was captured by FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) militants in November 1998, after a three-day hostage crisis in Mitu.
Mr Pinchao managed to evade his captors on April 28th and spent 17 days walking, swimming and crawling through the Amazonian jungle before being stumbled upon by an army patrol.
He was held as one of 60 hostages by FARC and confirmed in a news conference that the camp also included American intelligence agents - Marc Gonsalves, Tom Howes and Keith Stansell - who were captured in February 2003 and Ingrid Betancourt, a French-Colombian who had campaigned for president before being seized in 2002.
He admitted some guilt that he had managed to escape, saying: "I hope it's not my fault that the others face difficulties now."
The Colombian government has fought FARC for other 40 years, with negotiations over this current hostage crisis currently at an impasse.
President Alvaro Uribe has agreed to release FARC guerrillas from prison in exchange for the freedom of the 60 hostages, but will not cede to the FARC demand for their own demilitarised zone.
