Colombian rebel group FARC on Tuesday rejected a French medical mission intended to treat some sick hostages.
"The French medical mission is not to proceed since it is not a result of an agreement," the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) said in a statement.
The medical mission, assigned by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, had been expected to attend to sick FARC hostages, including French-Colombian citizen Ingrid Betancourt who was kidnapped over six years ago.
The medical team, composed of medics from France, Spain and Switzerland, had been waiting in Bogota since Thursday for FARC's permission to enter a jungle camp to treat the sick hostages.
The French government has been pressing for the release of Betancourt, kidnapped by the group as she campaigned in the Colombian presidential election in 2002.
FARC, which seeks to swap about 700 hostages for its 500 jailed members, said last week that Betancourt would not be released immediately.
The group said the hostages could have already been freed had the Colombian army not murdered FARC's international spokesman Edgar Devia alias Raul Reyes during a bombing raid on a rebel camp in Ecuadorian territory last month.
The guerilla group also accused the Colombian government of failing to demilitarize two municipalities in southwestern Colombia in return for the freedom of dozens of hostages.
The French government said Tuesday that it will seek other means to free the hostages.
Source:Xinhua
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