A former Colombian lawmaker kidnapped more than eight years ago by FARC guerrillas escaped through the jungles with one of his rebel captors in a severe blow to Latin America?s oldest insurgency. Wearing a tattered black T-shirt and sporting a tangled gray beard, ex-congressman Oscar Lizcano, 63, marched for three days with his FARC jailer before reaching an army post on Sunday where the guerrilla surrendered to troops. His escape follows the rescue of French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt, three Americans and a group of other hostages who were freed in a surprise military operation in July after years in jungle camps.

Lizcano?s flight illustrates the military pressure facing the FARC and how rebels have been hurt by informants, bounties for deserters and improved intelligence under President Alvaro Uribe, who has received more than $5 billion in US aid to battle the FARC and the drug trade that helps fuel the conflict.