Colombian Government informed today the arrest of 3 members of the FARC in Bogota, who were carrying videotapes of rebel-held hostages which proof that several of them, including Ingrid Betancourt and 3 American citizens - Keith Stansell, Marc Gonsalvez and Thomas Howes - are still alive.

5 videos were found, 4 of them dated between October 23 and 24, 2007; and another recorded at the beginning of 2007. The findings include 7 letters written by the hostages, including one of Betancourt to her mother, Yolanda Pulecio. There was also a memory card, which content was not revealed.

High Commissioner for Peace, Luis Carlos Restrepo, said the videos contain "painful, shocking" images. The videos don't have sound.

Ex- presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt appears in the images seated with the hands on her knees, extremely skinny and drawn, looking to the floor.

Other videos show Stansell, Gonsalvez and Howes, sergeant Erasmo Romero, lieutenant Dianel Rodriguez, 8 policemen and the politician Luis Eladio Perez.

More info: Colombia Seizes Videotapes of Hostages