4 Colombian captives' release expected

Colombia has given the Red Cross the go-ahead for a pair of Venezuelan helicopters to fly into the country on Wednesday to recover four hostages held by rebels for more than six years, a Red Cross official said.

The helicopters were scheduled to take off at about 6 a.m. Wednesday to fly to Colombia's jungle to pick up the hostages.

Two Venezuelan aircraft marked with the Red Cross logo will travel to the southern Colombian city of San Jose del Guaviare, said Barbara Hintermann, head of operations in Colombia for the International Committee of the Red Cross.

"We will leave from San Jose de Guaviare to an unidentified spot and there will be the handover of the four people," she said after a meeting with Colombia's minister of defense and the head of the armed forces.

Hintermann said the Colombian government had given the Red Cross security guarantees necessary to go forward with the mission.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, has pledged to free the Colombian hostages Gloria Polanco, former Sen. Luis Eladio Perez, ex-congressman Orlando Beltran and ailing ex-congressman Jorge Gechem, all of whom have been in rebel captivity for more than six years.

Each of the helicopters will include two Red Cross representatives, along with Venezuelan doctors to treat the hostages. Polanco is said to have suffered ailments including thyroid problems, while Gechem has heart, back and ulcer problems.

The rebels will turn the hostages over to officials of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's government as they did last month with former captives Clara Rojas and Consuelo Gonzalez, who were reunited with their families in Caracas.

The FARC have an ideological affinity for Chavez and have turned to the socialist leader to receive the hostages.

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Associated Press writer Fabiola Sanchez in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.