Ex-hostage Betancourt returns to Colombia: diplomat

Former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt is returning to Colombia for the first time since commandos rescued her from guerrillas after six years of captivity, a diplomatic source told AFP on Saturday.

In a daring operation army commandos rescued Betancourt and 14 other hostages being held by leftist guerrillas with the the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on July 2.

Betancourt, 46, who has both Colombian and French nationality, flew to France with her family afterward.

Betancourt's visit comes 24 hours after thousands marched in France, Spain and across Colombia demanding the release of hostages still being held by the FARC, Latin America's largest guerilla group.

The FARC is believed to be holding between 350 and 700 hostages, including 28 so-called "political hostages" that the rebels want to swap for about 500 imprisoned guerrillas.

Betancourt marched in Madrid alongside Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos on Friday. Neither she nor her family led marches in Colombia for security reasons.

A presidential candidate for Colombia's Green party when she was abducted in 2002, Betancourt was rescued along with two US contractors and eleven members of the armed forces.