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Bogota: Although the US government was supposed to have final authority on any plan to rescue three US contractors held by guerrillas, it was kept in the dark by the Colombian military until a week before the July 2 operation to lessen the chances the Bush administration would veto the effort, said a top official close to the operation.
"They wanted to wait long enough to make it difficult to say no," said the official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was forbidden to speak on the topic for attribution.
An official with Colombia's Defence Ministry, who also asked for anonymity, confirmed on Sunday that his government waited until shortly before the operation to inform the US.
Interception
In early June, intelligence officials in the US Embassy here intercepted communication between rebel leaders at the same time that it noticed the suspicious convergence of groups suspected of guarding the three Americans and other hostages.
The officials were part of a 100-person team dedicated to securing the release of the US contractors since they were taken captive in February 2003.
Suspecting that a rescue plan was in motion, US officials asked Colombian Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos, who on June 25 then laid out the daring blueprint, the first official said.
Green light
On June 30, at a meeting of the National Security Council that included Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the US gave a green light. US officials here believed chances of success were about 50-50.
On July 2, 13-member Colombian commando team posing as a humanitarian mission fooled leftists guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) into loading 15 hostages, including the three Americans and onetime Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, onto a helicopter they thought was taking them to meet the rebel group's new commander.
The commandos instead overcame the two rebel guards and flew the hostages to safety.
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