The Colombian government today broadcast videos today of kidnapped politician Ingrid Betancourt and three Americans in the first proof since 2003 that they were alive.
The videos, which also showed Colombian military officers kidnapped by guerrillas, were confiscated from three suspected rebels captured in Bogota and included images from October, Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo said.
Ms Betancourt, a dual French-Colombian citizen and former presidential candidate captured in 2002, and the Americans are held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia rebels, who are waging Latin America's oldest insurgency.
Brief clips that were broadcast showed images of Ms Betancourt sitting in the jungle and the Americans. US contractors Thomas Howes, Marc Gonsalves and Keith Stansell were snatched by the Farc when their aircraft crashed on a counter-narcotics mission.
Commissioner Restrepo said photographs and letters from hostages were also found.
"All we see is a single photo where she is sitting at a small table and appears fairly thin, with very, very long hair. . . . I had the feeling that her hand was chained. It's a sad image of my sister, but she is alive," Ms Betancourt's sister Astrid said in France.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy played a key role in recent efforts to broker a deal to free Farc hostages in exchange for jailed rebel fighters.
Earlier this year, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe freed a Farc commander to try to broker talks and in August invited Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to mediate.