Report: Former hostage Betancourt files for divorce

Mar 15, 2009, 23:08 GMT

Bogota - Former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who was held hostage by leftist rebels for more than six years, has filed for divorce from her husband, the Colombian magazine Semana reported Sunday.

Betancourt wants a divorce from publicist Juan Carlos Lecompte and reportedly argued that they had been 'bodily separated' for more than six years, well beyond the two years that are required by Colombian law as sufficient cause for divorce.

Semana noted that Lecompte's lawyers rejected the demand and argued that such a separation was not voluntary, but was forced by the kidnapping of the former presidential candidate - who has both Colombian and French citizenship - by the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Moreover, the man's lawyers argued that Lecompte himself is set to file for divorce, based on reports that Betancourt was unfaithful to him during her captivity. As evidence, they cite the book Out Of Captivity, written by US contractors Thomas Howes, Keith Stansell and Marc Gonsalves, who were held by FARC at the same time as Betancourt.

The three defence contractors said in the book that the former presidential candidate was in a relationship with fellow-hostage Luis Eladio Perez, a former senator, who was released by FARC just over a year ago.

Betancourt - the most high-profile hostage ever held by FARC - was kidnapped on February 23, 2002, and she was freed in a Colombian Army operation on July 2, 2008 along with the three US contractors and 11 Colombian military and police officers who were also being held hostage by FARC.

Lecompte recently told a Bogota daily that he felt 'let down' by his wife's attitude once she was released, because she immediately distanced herself from him.