French mission stands by to treat Colombia hostage

By Patrick Markey

BOGOTA (Reuters) - A French medical team on Thursday prepared to fly into Colombia's jungles to treat rebel hostage Ingrid Betancourt, a French-Colombian politician believed seriously ill after six years in guerrilla captivity.

A successful mission would be the first contact in years with Betancourt, the highest profile captive held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, but a tough FARC rebel statement gave no signal they would accept the initiative and made clear she would not be immediately freed.

President Alvaro Uribe says he will suspend military operations in the area once the team has the location where it will treat Betancourt, but it was unclear whether France had contacted rebels for the mission Paris believes is urgent.

"The French humanitarian mission has given us some information about where they think Ingrid Betancourt is being held," Uribe told the France 3 television channel. "We are ready to suspend military operations in the area in question."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has demanded FARC commanders free Betancourt, but so far few details have been revealed about how the mission will treat her in a rebel camp.

In a hardline statement, FARC leader Rodrigo Granda said the killing of a senior commander in March complicated hostage negotiations and said rebels would not free Betancourt or any captives without a deal to exchange them for jailed rebels.

Granda did not refer directly to the mission for Betancourt or make clear if it would be allowed to visit captives.

A French aircraft transporting the mission was waiting at a Bogota military air base, fueled and ready to fly to anywhere it was required inside Colombia, officials said.