Ecuador kidnapped oil workers freed

Former captive German Scholz of Chile returns to Quito

Seven foreign oil workers kidnapped in Ecuador last October have been released, after their employers paid a $13m (£9m) ransom.

The hostages, from the United States, New Zealand, Chile and Argentina, were set free near the border with Colombia on Thursday morning.

They arrived at Quito airport before dark and were immediately rushed to a hotel, protected by security personnel.

FARC is believed to be active in the area

President Gustavo Noboa's office said the men were "in good condition"

Ecuadorean television reports said the captives were freed in the jungle near Santa Rosa de Cascales, a few miles from Ecuador's northern border with Colombia and 90 miles east of Quito.

An Ecuadorean military intelligence officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that the hostages were picked up by a military patrol and taken to Lago Agrio, 110 miles north east of the capital, Quito..

No-one has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, but it has been linked to the seizure two years ago of seven Canadians and an American in the same region.

Oil industry and military sources say they suspect the kidnappers are behind a series of deadly bomb attacks against Ecuador's main oil pipeline.

Colombia suspicions

The seven were part of a group of 10 foreign workers kidnapped from an oilfield owned by the Spanish-Argentine company Repsol YPF in Ecuador's central Amazon region.

Two French helicopter pilots escaped shortly after the kidnap and one American victim, Ron Sander, was shot dead in January when an earlier ransom demand was not met.

Mr Sander's body was found in the jungle, his body wrapped in a white sheet on which was written: "I am a gringo. For non-payment of ransom."

The Ecuadorean Government initially blamed guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), but FARC leaders immediately denied involvement.

FARC rebels are active in the neighbouring Putumayo province of Colombia, and the Ecuadorean military recently found a FARC campsite on the Ecuadorean side side of the border.