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Betancourt, a video release

AP

On the video capture disclosed by Bogota Ingrid Betancourt was discovered in the process of boarding the helicopter. At this point, it is still unclear that this is a release operation. (AP)

Fake journalist filmed the raid that led to the release of 15 hostages held by FARC. In this revealing video, he intends to prove Bogota there has not been staging designed to conceal the payment of a ransom.

While several media outlets are questioning the official version and report a ransom, the Colombian military has released a video Friday of the rescue operation that led to the release Wednesday of 15 hostages from FARC, which Ingrid Betancourt. This document lasting three minutes was filmed by a member of the Colombian special forces who was posing as a journalist.

In the first sequence, we see the hostages across a plain to reach a helicopter, similar to those used in previous unilateral release of hostages held by the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross). Their hands are hampered by plastic rods and some of them seem angry.

Suddenly, the camera fixed on the face of American military Keith Stansell, held hostage for 5 years, who said at the wrong camera: "I love my family." Then she moves to the head of the rebel captors, the commander "Cesar" who refuses to grant an interview.

The second sequence is that the announcement of the hostages sitting in the helicopter, they are free. "You are free everything is finished, "shouted one of the commando members, addressing the hostages that explode with joy. Ingrid Betancourt, resigned, his face closed, does not seem at first fully understand the situation. Then a smile on his lips.

Finally, we hear screams of joy, cries of joy and some hostages were standing in the unit.

No image shows how the two FARC guerrillas are neutralized by special forces.

Israel denied involvement

The Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos, who has decided to broadcast these video clips of the press, argued Friday night these images proved that there was no stage intended to conceal the payment of a ransom to the rebels but a true commando operation.

He explained that the trick had been copied on two previous hostage-handed, which took place in January and February through the mediation of Venezuela. "During the last two hostages handed, there was always a cameraman provided by (Venezuelan President Hugo) Chavez," he said. In addition, the helicopters that had brought the six hostages were carrying Venezuelan and the staff of the International Red Cross.

The defense minister also denied reports published in international media that Israel has participated in the operation, ensuring that the mission was "100% Colombian". "Not a single foreigner participated there," he said, adding that U.S. authorities had been notified ten days before the operation in the framework of an agreement between President Alvaro Uribe and his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush.

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And if that was all a bluff?

Radio Suisse Romande said that Bogota and Washington have paid a large sum of money to "flip" one of the guards of the 15 hostages freed. The military announced would never have happened.

If confirmed, the information revealed by Radio Suisse Romande (RSR) could be a bombshell in Colombia. Citing a source "close to the events," "reliable, proven repeatedly over the last twenty years," the radio said in effect that no military operation would have taken place to free Ingrid Betancourt and 15 other hostages.

The radio said the hostages "were actually purchased at full price, then the whole operation was staged." The source of the RSR said that the wife of one of the guards hostage, was arrested by the Colombian military, would function as an intermediary. It is thanks to Bogota, assisted by the United States could "buy" the release of the hostages against $ 20 million paid to their guardians. Also according to the radio, Washington would be the basis for this operation.

The RSR also explains that many observers were disturbed by two very credible in the official version of the release of hostages: first, the look absolutely perfect conduct of the operation and then the absence of a Video showing commandos in action, while a man is always responsible for shooting this type of operation.

Worse for President Uribe, Swiss radio said he "wanted to decide the D-Day, where such release would occur, according to its own political agenda." Alvaro Uribe has indeed call early elections, while several corruption cases put him in trouble in the polls.

The staging a commando operation allows it says Swiss radio, "stick to his line that excludes any negotiations with the rebels until the hostages are not released" and "regild its image. "

Another sign of the credibility of the information given by the RSR, the reaction to the slowest of Paris. Asked at a press briefing Friday, the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, Eric Chevallier said that France paid no ransom. "Not having been involved in this operation, we have not been associated with its financing arrangements, if indeed there was funding arrangements," he replied. A somewhat convoluted answer, which supports the notion of "staging".

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The bluff of the Colombian army operation

EXCLUSIVE FIGARO MAGAZINE - How the army and the Colombian intelligence services have they managed to fool one of the most paranoid in the world? Decrypting a plan that went smoothly.

"Operation worthy of a movie ',' epic epic" ... The Colombian authorities have no words strong enough to describe their success after the release of Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other FARC hostages. Yet failure is an ingredient to make a Hollywood blockbuster: shootings. Alvaro Uribe, the Colombian president, has stressed on several occasions: not a shot was fired during the operation, and no one was injured. "We have never improvised," he says to explain the unexpected success of an operation conducted by a thorough and effective modern army. Le Figaro Magazine was able to interview the Colonel Gomez, one of the main organizers of this release, which goes behind the scenes.

Act I: infiltration. Evidence suggests that Thursday morning, the British had managed to infiltrate "agents" of military intelligence at two levels of the organization FARC. "At least one man" was able to integrate the "first circle of the Armed Forces Forces of Colombia, its secretariat, a body of collective leadership. Others seem to have been placed in front of a number of FARC, led by Gerardo Antonio Aguilar, alias "Cesar". The British did not say how many officers were involved in this huge bluff, nor how long they were infiltrators. Still, this first step has been made possible by an intensive intelligence work, in collaboration with U.S. and Israeli consultants.

Act II: identification. In an interview published Saturday in Le Figaro Magazine, Colonel Gomez, one of the main organizers of these releases was that the Colombian military had located the hostages since "approximately four months." "We had technical information and also information obtained by the infiltrators'. About 200 soldiers were involved in this phase, and some have come very near the area where the hostages were undetected. In early May, soldiers have even seen two American hostages, and two Colombians who washed into the river, but we did not want to attempt a release order not to endanger the lives of others. "

Act III: the bluff. The objective of President Uribe to free the hostages most important, foremost among them Ingrid Betancourt and three Americans. But they are divided into three groups held in different places. Taking advantage of the beheading of the organization after the death of Raul Reyes and number 2 of the historic leader Manuel Marulanda, with the undercover agent in the secretariat, the army managed to FARC to believe that their new leader, Alfonso Cano , ordered the consolidation of the hostages and their transfer to a new place, for a possible prisoner exchange. According to Colonel Gomez, officers even managed to circulate this order on the fictional radio waves from the guerrillas.

The jailers are convinced that they must transfer the 15 hostages who were among a group of 39 captive-called "policies" that the rebels wanted to exchange against 500 of their imprisoned by the Colombian authorities. The FARC commander Asprilla confirmed Ingrid Betancourt one hour before surgery. The hostages are then carried to a rendezvous point where two helicopters waiting. They are white, without any distinguishing mark. This is actually M-17 of the Colombian Army, repainted as soon as possible by the military.

Act IV: action. The plan being put together, yet to take action. The army was indeed a "plan B" in case of a hitch: circle the FARC captors without fighting and to bring humanitarian organizations to negotiate the release. But it will not be used. Men are descended from a helicopter. They wear t-shirts bearing the image of Che Guevara and are even equipped with AK-47 rifles, weapons typical of the guerrillas and not the Colombian army. They say they are responsible for transporting the hostages by helicopter to a camp to meet the new leader of FARC, Alfonso Cano. In confidence, Cesar climbs into the machine. He was immediately neutralized by Colombian agents. Meanwhile, other men handcuffed the hostages to deceive the other guerrillas and are mounted in the M-17. Doors are slammed behind them. In total, this phase did not last more than five minutes.

Act V: deliverance. Immediately, Ingrid Betancourt noticed a naked man, blindfolded on the floor of the unit. She then recognizes Cesar, his torturer, who had humiliated repeatedly during his captivity. The commander and a member of his staff, appears to have been previously deceived by disguises and immediately neutralized. It was at that moment that the head of the Colombian army operation falls the mask. " You're free. " The hostages scream, cry, leap into the air with joy, as the story of Betancourt, who emphasized that he was scared that the helicopter crashed. In total, nine people participated in this phase of the operation.