Colombia rebels free captured general

Colombia's leftist FARC guerrillas have freed an army general and two others whose capture two weeks ago derailed peace talks, President Juan Manuel Santos says.

"Freed ... in perfect condition," Santos said on his Twitter account on Sunday, adding that Brigadier General Ruben Alzate and his fellow captives would be reunited with their families as soon as weather permitted.

Santos had made the release of the captives a condition for resuming two-year-old peace talks, seen as the best chance yet of ending the 50-year-old guerrilla war.

Alzate, Corporal Jorge Rodriguez and army adviser Gloria Urrego were captured by rebels November 16 as they traveled by boat to visit a civilian energy project in the remote department of Choco.

Alzate, 55, the highest ranking officer ever captured by the FARC, headed an army task force in the remote western region.