Left-wing rebels freed the last known foreign hostage held in Colombia, a 69-year-old Swede kidnapped nearly two years ago from the ranch where he had retired.
Erik Larsson, paralysed in half his body, was handed over to detectives in a rugged region of the northern state of Cordoba, the head of the DAS state security agency, Felipe Munoz, said.
Video provided by DAS to local media showed Mr Larsson, apparently unable to walk, being lifted by police and soldiers from a canoe on the shore of a river in desolate, high terrain and placed on a stretcher and into an ambulance.
Mr Munoz said various Swedish non-governmental organisations had sought his freedom.
"For us, it's obviously a very happy day," Swedish Embassy counsellor Tommy Stromberg said.
Mr Stromberg said he did not know if a ransom was paid to Mr Larsson's captors, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc, but Swedish police had worked closely with the DAS on the case.
The Farc had sought a £3.6 million ransom, according to the DAS.
Colombia's defence ministry said in a report issued earlier this month that Mr Larsson was the only foreigner still held captive in the nation.
Ambassador Lena Nordstrom told reporters that Mr Larsson, whom she met in Cordoba's capital, Monteria, had been the only Swedish kidnap victim in the world.
He was due to be flown to the Colombian capital Bogota later.
Mr Larsson was kidnapped from his ranch in Tierralta, not far from where he was freed, on May 16 2007, along with his Colombian wife, Diana Pena. She escaped the same month following a gun battle between her captors and police.
Mr Larsson had retired in Colombia after working for Skanska on construction of the Urra 1 hydroelectric project in the region.
Mr Larsson's son Tommy, who lives in Sweden, said in February that he recently received a proof-of-life video, but no ransom demand.
"A doctor saw the video and it appears that he had suffered from a stroke. His right arm, leg and parts of his face are paralysed," Tommy Larsson said then.
"Daddy is old and sick. He has lost weight. He looks weak."
Mr Larsson became Colombia's last known foreign hostage on July 2nd, when military agents posing as a humanitarian mission airlifted three US military contractors and the French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt to freedom in an elaborate ruse.
At least 22 Colombian soldiers and police continue to be held by the Farc as political bargaining chips.
Reuters