By Xinhua,
Paris : French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner will visit Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela next week to lobby for the release of Ingrid Betancourt, who has been held hostage by Colombian FARC rebels for six years, his office said Friday.
Betancourt, a former Colombian presidential candidate, holds both French and Colombian citizenship and is the most high-profile hostage held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Kouchner will first travel to Colombia to meet with President Alvaro Uribe on Monday, the French Foreign Ministry said.
On Tuesday he will travel to Quito to meet with Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, and on Wednesday he will meet with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Kouchner will discuss the hostage issue with the three heads of state “and speak about the urgency of finding a humanitarian solution that could lead to the release of the hostages held by the FARC,” the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.