The bloodless and apparently brilliant operation to free 15 hostages from the Colombian jungle today became mired in confusion, with some reports even claiming that the entire episode was nothing but a sham to disguise the payment of a ransom.

Swiss public radio cited an unidentified source “close to the events, reliable and tested many times in recent years" as saying the operation had in fact been staged to cover up the fact that the US and Colombians had paid $20 million for their freedom.

The hostages released on Wednesday, including Ingrid Betancourt, the French-Colombian politician, "were in reality ransomed for a high price, and the whole operation afterwards was a set-up," the public broadcaster said.

The report added said the wife of one of the hostages’ guards had acted as a go-between after being arrested by the Colombian Army. She was released to return to the guerrillas, where she allegedly persuaded her husband to change sides.

The report claimed that the US, which had three citizens among the hostages, had been behind the deal.

The Colombian Foreign Ministry fiercely denied the allegations, with a spokesman describing them as "completely false." He added: "They are lies".

The head of the Colombian military, General Freddy Padilla, categorically denied they had paid "a single peso" to the Farc.

"As the General Commander of the Armed Forces and on my military honour, I deny that the Colombian Government has paid a single peso, a single cent," he said.

Ms Betancourt also cast doubt on the claims that money had been paid for her freedom. "Based on what I was able to see in this rescue operation, because of the intensity, I don't think they could have fooled me," she said. "I don't think that anyone was acting. The situation was too intense."

The US has not responded to the allegations but, before they arose, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the rescue “was conceived by the Colombians and executed by the Colombians with our full support."

The French Foreign Ministry, which had been negotiating the release of Ms Betancourt, said it had not paid any money. “Not having been associated with this operation, we could not have been associated with its means of financing, if there were such means,” the Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

French media have also raised questions about Ms Betancourt’s relatively healthy appearance after her release, compared with the gaunt and haggard look of her last video from captivity. French state radio suggested the hostages may have been given food and medicine to return them to health before their release. There was no suggestion that the hostages knew they were to be released.

Dominique Moisi, one of France's leading foreign policy experts, said that it was “probable” that the Farc had been paid money as part of the "infiltration" of their command. “They were bought in order to turn them around, like Mafia chiefs," he said on French state television, as Ms Betancourt's plane was taxiing up to the terminal in Paris.

Meanwhile, Israeli media also reported that military advisers and officers from its intelligence service, Mossad, had helped plan and execute the operation. One of the advisers credited with helping the Colombians is a retired Israeli Army officer named Israel Ziv.

Mr Ziv, who set up his own company after retiring from the Israeli Army in 2005 and was reported to have been paid $10 million, said: “We have an indirect relationship (with the Colombians). Our help is very significant, giving them sophisticated instruments in the anti-terrorist fight. The Colombians are very like us in their determination and creativity.”

The Colombian Government has said it tricked the Farc rebels into placing the hostages aboard one of its helicopters using spies infiltrated in the rebel command to issue false orders.

General Freddy Padilla told Spanish media that Colombian forces traced the hostages with the help of US surveillance via planes, drones and satellite - the only help he said they received. Gen. Padilla said they chose Colombian soldiers with foreign parents for the mission and gave them acting classes so that the Farc rebels would believe they were from an international organisation.

Gen. Padilla said “An intelligence team has been infiltrated since 2007 in three objectives: two, at the highest level of the secretariat, and one in the group under (the) command that held the hostages.”

He added that the army’s intelligence agents were still in the jungle posing as Farc rebels. “Our people are still there and are in danger,” he told El País.

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