In pictures: Farc hostages freed

Two women held hostage in Colombia for more than five years by Farc rebels have been reunited with their families after arriving at an airport near the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.

Clara Rojas's mother said their release from captivity was the "biggest miracle God could have ever given me".

Consuelo Gonzalez was reunited with her daughter Patricia (centre) and a granddaughter she had never met.

Both women expressed their thanks to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for his help in brokering the deal.

Earlier they were flown out of the Colombian jungle by helicopter, in an operation overseen by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Venezuelan government.

Ms Rojas, 44, an aide to former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, was seized in February 2002, while she and Ms Betancourt were out campaigning.

Ms Gonzalez, a 57-year-old former congresswoman, was captured in September 2001 near the city of Neiva.

Relatives of hundreds of people still in captivity were determined they would not be forgotten, and held images of their loved ones in a demonstration in Bogota's main square.

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