Freed Colombia hostage Ingrid Betancourt (c) reunites with her children Melanie (l) and Lorenzo Delloye, at the airport in Bogota, 03 Jul 2008

Former Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt has been reunited with her children, less than one day after a daring rescue in which she was freed after more than six years in rebel captivity.

The children flew from France with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, arriving in Colombia Thursday.

The French-Colombian politician and 14 other hostages, including three American defense contractors, were freed Wednesday in an operation that Colombian security officials described as flawless.

Authorities say Colombian intelligence officials tricked the rebels with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia into handing over their most prominent hostages for transport by helicopter to another location. Colombian officials say the hostages boarded what turned out to be a government helicopter that flew them to safety.

Officials say not a single shot was fired during the rescue.

The three American hostages, Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell, were flown to a U.S Air Force base in Texas, where they are to be reunited with their loved ones.

The FARC rebel group is still believed to be holding more than 700 hostages in Colombian jungle camps.

The Americans, employees of a U.S.-based defense contractor, were captured in 2003 when their plane crashed during a counter-drug operation.

Betancourt was seized in 2002 while campaigning for the Colombian presidency.

After her release, Betancourt thanked God, the Colombian military and President Alvaro Uribe for the rescue, which she described as a "perfect operation." Betancourt is to arrive in Paris Friday with her children.

The United States, Colombia and European Union have designated the FARC as a terrorist organization.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP.