FRANCE:French president Nicolas Sarkozy broadcasted messages to the Franco-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt and her captors in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) early yesterday.
Mr Sarkozy also spoke to thousands of hostages in Colombia "in my own name, and especially in the name of 62 million French people", telling them he was "committed to freeing you from an inhuman fate".
France would not forget them, he promised. He would do everything necessary to obtain their freedom.
Mr Sarkozy then addressed himself specifically to Ms Betancourt, calling her "dear Ingrid". He expressed admiration for her dignity and courage "in a situation when weaker people would have lost their humanity".
The speech was broadcast on the frequency that Ms Betancourt, a hostage since February 2002, is known to listen to.
Mr Sarkozy said he was in close contact with her family, he said. "Ingrid, we will never let you down . . . You must hold on, because your family is waiting for you."
The broadcasts were recorded 24 hours after the Colombian government asked Mr Sarkozy to participate in negotiations with the Farc. The Élysée stalled for time, saying the proposal required reflection. Mr Sarkozy's advisers said he did not want to be manipulated, and that he was willing to travel to Colombia if his presence could be useful.
By speaking directly to Manuel Marulanda, the head of the Farc, in a second, televised message, Mr Sarkozy circumvented the Colombian president, Alvaro Uribe.
Five times in the short message, the French president called the guerrilla leader by the respectful "Monsieur". But he was careful to distance himself from the Farc, saying: "You know I do not share your ideas and I condemn your methods, particularly kidnapping."
"The spark of life is going out in this woman," Mr Sarkozy said, alluding to video images of Ms Betancourt and a moving letter to her mother which were seized by Colombian authorities last week. "I ask you solemnly to release Ingrid Betancourt so you do not have on your conscience the risk of her death . . . We must save a woman who is in danger of dying . . . I have a dream: to see Ingrid with her family for Christmas."
Mr Sarkozy promised to work "for the liberation of all the others who are sequestered", an allusion to 500 Farc guerrillas in Colombian prisons.
"You can save this woman," the French president concluded. "You can show the world that the Farc understands humanitarian imperatives."