Colombia hostage free after 8 years

A 62-year-old lawmaker held captive eight years by leftist rebels walked to freedom Sunday in a western Colombia jungle, along with a young guerrilla commander who had been his jailer. President Alvaro Uribe said the rebel and his girlfriend would be rewarded with cash and asylum in France. Oscar Tulio Lizcano is the first Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia hostage to gain freedom since the July 2 rescue of former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. military contractors. His escape is another blow to Latin America’s last major rebel army, which is battling record desertions under withering pressure from Colombia’s U.S.-backed military. The white-bearded Lizcano encountered a military road checkpoint three days after escaping with the leader of the unit that held him.