Former hostage Ingrid Betancourt embraces her son Lorenzo, right, and daughter Melanie upon their arrival from France at a military base in Bogota, Thursday, July 3, 2008. Betancourt embraced her children for the first time in six years, saying the thought of them helped her stay alive until a daring rescue plucked her and 14 other hostages from the jungle on Wednesday

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) _ The children of Ingrid Betancourt embraced their mother for the first time in six years on Thursday in a tear-drenched airport welcome, a day after the former presidential candidate was freed from rebel captivity by Colombia's government.



"Nirvana, paradise — that must be very similar to what I feel at this moment," Betancourt told reporters as she fought back tears, her son bending over to kiss her and her daughter clinging tightly to her arm.



The two were adolescents when she was seized, and have now grown into young adults.



"They are so different and so similar at the same time," she said.



France's government flew the children, Lorenzo and Melanie, to meet Betancourt, a dual citizen whose captivity became a cause celebrity in the European nation where she spent her childhood.



The office of President Nicolas Sarkozy said Betancourt herself would arrive in Paris on Friday.