By KUNA
Paris : French President Nicolas Sarkozy is to receive later Monday Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to discuss, in particular, the ongoing issue of the Franco-Colombian hostage, Ingrid Betancourt, held since 2002 by leftist Colombian guerrillas.
Official sources at Sarkozys office announced the two men will meet late Monday morning to discuss the difficult issue.
Uribe, who has taken a tough line with the guerrillas and has refused compromise in negotiations on the hostages, arrived in Paris on Sunday and expressed willingness to be more flexible in his approach to the FARC guerrilla movement, but he has claimed that he has made a lot of efforts already with the anti-government movement.
He is making his case in a number of European countries and started his tour in France, where he met Sunday with family members of Betancourt, who was running for the Colombian presidency when she was kidnapped almost six years ago.
Her dual French nationality and the fact her French husband and children live here have created official interest on the part of the Sarkozy administration in the case.