Former hostage Ingrid Betancourt (C) looks at her husband Juan Carlos Lecompte as she arrives to a military base in Bogota, after being rescued from six years of captivity, Wednesday, July 2, 2008.(Xinhua/AFP Photo) 

"This is an act that brings back hope for all Colombians, and it reaffirms to the international community the seriousness and the right path of the security policy presented by President Alvaro Uribe," he said.

The release was also a major boost for Sarkozy, who had pledged to free Betancourt when he was elected president in May 2007. The French president had sent a medical mission to Colombia earlier this year to help her.

"We are proud of her courage...it is an immense joy for all of France," Sarkozy said Wednesday.

EU Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner said she was "extremely relieved and very happy" about the hostage release, but expressed concerns for the rest of some 700 hostages still held by the FARC.

The three Americans, held since 2003 after their drug surveillance plane went down in rebel-held jungle, have been flown directly to the Untied States on a special plane, the authorities said.