BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- On the eve of a visit by President Bush, the U.S. Embassy confirmed that U.S. and Colombian soldiers had entered a stronghold of leftist rebels who are holding three Americans hostage.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Marshall Louis said only that "U.S. personnel accompanied Colombian forces in the south, and that's all I can say about it."

U.S. troops are not permitted to engage in combat in Colombia but are allowed to accompany and advise Colombian units.

Bush is due to arrive in Bogota around noon Sunday as he continues his seven-day, five-country Latin American tour. (Watch how Bush is trying to improve the United States' image )

Colombia's largest newspaper, El Tiempo, reported Saturday that U.S. and Colombian soldiers arrived in the southern town of Cartagena del Chaira, a stronghold of the rebel group FARC, by helicopter on January 28 about 30 minutes after rebels shot and wounded a woman.

The rebels fled but the government troops took two people away for questioning. When the two returned two days later they said they had been interrogated about the U.S. hostages, according to El Tiempo.

Marc Gonsalves, Tom Howes and Keith Stansell, who are U.S. military contractors, were captured by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, in February 2004 when their surveillance plane went down.

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