Colombian soldiers rescued a politician kidnapped more than eight years ago by Farc guerillas in another blow to Latin America's oldest rebel insurgency, authorities said yesterday.

The rescue of former lawmaker Oscar Lizcano comes after French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt, three Americans and a group of other hostages were freed in a military operation in July after years in jungle camps.

"The President called my brother and gave him the news, we're so happy," said Juan Carlos Lizcano, the kidnapped politician's son. The Farc, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, was once a powerful rebel army that controlled large areas of the country but it has been battered by President Alvaro Uribe's US-backed security campaign.

The rebels lost three commanders this year and hundreds of fighters have deserted. Mr Lizcano, kidnapped in 2000 and reportedly in very poor health, was the politician kept captive the longest by the Farc. Guerillas are still holding scores of kidnap victims for political leverage and ransom.

President Uribe has received billions of dollars in US aid to battle the Farc and the drug trade that helps fuel Colombia's conflict.

Cities and highways are safer but thousands of people still are displaced each year by violence in rural areas.

Ms Betancourt, a former presidential candidate, and the three US contractor workers were rescued in July when their guerilla captors were tricked into handing them over intelligence officers posing as a humanitarian mission.