Paris, France: Colombia’s FARC rebels should have shared the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to President Juan Manuel Santos on Friday for his efforts to end Latin America’s longest war, one of the guerrilla group’s former hostages said.

Ingrid Betancourt, now 54, spent six years in the jungle after being abducted by FARC guerrillas while campaigning in Colombia’s 2002 presidential election.

The charismatic Franco-Colombian former politician told France’s iTele broadcaster  the prize showed “there was no turning back from peace”.

Asked if she thought the FARC should also have been honoured by the Nobel committee, an emotional Betancourt said haltingly: “Yes... it’s very hard for me to say yes... but I think so.”

After five decades of conflict, Santos last month signed an historic peace deal with FARC chief Timoleon “Timochenko” Jimenez, but in a shock development on Sunday it was narrowly rejected in a referendum, leaving the peace process hanging in the balance.

Betancourt said the Nobel Prize was a “just” reward for Santos.

“He was practically alone in fighting for this result. He is making history. He is giving the next generation the possibility of living in a different country. It’s a huge moment for Colombia.”

Betancourt later told Colombia’s Blu Radio the award was an “extraordinary boost” to the peace process and a rebuttal to its hardline opponents.

“It drowns and diminishes the voices of those who wanted to see the peace process aborted,” she said.

The prize is also a recognition of the FARC’s “extraordinary transformation,” she added.

The Marxist guerrillas, she said, have gone from being “a terrorist group linked to drug trafficking to a group of human beings convinced they can contribute to peace.”