TIMELINE: Hostage-taking and releases in Colombia

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia said on Wednesday it rescued French-Colombia politician Ingrid Betancourt, three Americans and 11 other hostages held for years by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

The guerrillas held scores of hostages in secret jungle camps for ransom and political leverage, some for as long as a decade. Here is a chronology of some of the many hostage-taking events in Colombia in recent years.

Sept 4, 1997 - Marxist rebels storm into one of Colombia's larger hydroelectric power stations and take at least 23 hostages.

March 26, 1998 - FARC rebels hold more than 30 civilian hostages, including four U.S. citizens and an Italian, after seizing them on a highway outside Bogota, authorities say.

April 14 - Five rebels who hijack a Colombian airliner and kidnap its 41 passengers and crew are well-dressed and carry executive briefcases when they take their seats, one of six freed hostages says.

Feb 9, 2000 - Army troops free hundreds of people held by leftist rebels blockading a major highway, after a four-day siege that is believed to be Colombia's biggest-ever hostage seizure.

Jan 10, 2001 - Helicopter-borne Colombian troops rescue 56 hostages from leftist guerrillas but the rebel group strikes back, kidnapping 13 other people, including five policemen, in another area, police and army officials say.

May 6 - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he begins efforts to help free a group of Colombian soldiers held hostage by Marxist guerrillas for several years.

Feb 24, 2002 - Marxist guerrillas kidnap presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt on a road into their former safe haven as the advancing army pushes into the disputed jungle territory.

Oct 23 - FARC demand the release of all of its jailed fighters as a condition for it to free kidnapped politicians and police.

May 5, 2003 - The rebels kill a provincial governor, a former defense minister and eight soldiers held hostage when the army botches a rescue attempt, the government and survivors say.

Dec 18, 2007 - FARC says in a statement they will turn over three hostages to Chavez, just weeks after Bogota ends his efforts to broker the release of rebel captives.

Dec 31 - The delicate mission to free the three hostages appears to collapse as the government and rebel leaders accuse each other of trying to kill the deal.

Jan 7, 2008- Colombia rules out more international missions seeking to release hostages.

Jan 10 - Clara Rojas and Consuelo Gonzalez, a former lawmaker captured in 2001, are freed, raising hopes for dozens more languishing in secret camps.

Feb 27 - FARC releases four Colombian hostages from a jungle camp to Chavez.

March 4 - FARC says the killing of one of its top leaders by Colombian forces in Ecuador gravely damaged chances for hostage exchange with government.

March 28 - Colombia offers cash and reduced jail terms in exchange for rebels to free Betancourt.

April 1- French President Nicolas Sarkozy says Betancourt was close to death, must be released. Sarkozy launches an initiative to send a medical team to treat Betancourt, but it is not allowed to meet the hostages.

June 8 - Chavez urges FARC rebels to unconditionally release all prisoners from jungle camps.

July 2 - Colombian forces rescue Betancourt, three American hostages and 11 other hostages from FARC guerrillas.

(Writing by Alonso Soto; editing by David Storey)