Sarkozy says Betancourt near death

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy called on Colombia's FARC guerrillas on Tuesday to release their hostage Ingrid Betancourt who he said was close to death.

"The latest information reaching us regarding Ingrid Betancourt is profoundly worrying," he said in a statement broadcast on French television and addressed to FARC leader Manuel Marulanda.

"Ingrid is in danger of imminent death. She no longer has the strength to resist an interminable captivity which is turning into tragedy," Sarkozy said. "You, who lead the FARC, you have a rendezvous with history. Don't miss it. Free Ingrid Betancourt and the weakest hostages."

The televised appeal, in French but with Spanish subtitles, underlined the importance attached to the case in France, where Betancourt's photograph is displayed on town halls as a reminder of her six-year ordeal.

According to a support committee spokesman, Betancourt is believed to have begun a hunger strike on February 23.

"She began a hunger strike more than a month ago. A hunger strike in favorable surroundings is very dangerous. In the jungle, it's fatal," Arnaud Mangiapan told reporters at the French president's palace.

"It's obvious that for Ingrid, it's a matter of absolute urgency now," he said.

In his address, Sarkozy repeated that France was waiting for a signal from the guerrillas to organize a rescue mission. "France is and will remain mobilized for a humanitarian agreement."

Prime Minister Francois Fillon has said France would be willing to take in former guerrilla fighters as part of a possible deal to free FARC hostages including Betancourt, who has joint French and Colombian nationality.

A spokesman for Sarkozy said at the weekend that a plane with medical supplies would be kept on standby in France ready to intervene "at any time" if a hostage deal could be reached.

(Reporting by James Mackenzie and Elizabeth Pineau)