French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has met with President Rafael Correa, in his bid to relaunch a rescue mission for hostages held by Colombian rebels, including French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.

Kouchner's visit Tuesday followed a meeting Monday with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe in Bogota, and comes ahead of his meeting Wednesday in Caracas with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, French Embassy officials told AFP.

A French medical mission last month failed to bring back Betancourt, 46, a six-year captive of the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group that is seeking a deal with Uribe to swap some 40 hostages for 500 jailed rebels.

Chavez has played a mediating role in hostage releases.

The FARC rejected the French rescue plan, expressing annoyance with Uribe's handling of the proposed handover.

Betancourt, a dual French-Colombian national who was kidnapped while campaigning for the Colombian presidency, is believed to be gravely ill.

Kouchner and Correa met behind closed doors for about an hour, officials said.

Ecuadoran Security Minister Gustavo Larrea said after the meeting that Kouchner had restated France's intention "to make every humanitarian effort possible to secure the release of Ingrid Betancourt and all the other hostages."

Kouchner was expected to leave Quito for Caracas late Tuesday. His meeting with Chavez is scheduled for Wednesday.

The Venezuelan president, who late last year served as mediator in the hostage crisis until Uribe ended his efforts over a diplomatic spat, said last week that his contacts with FARC had dried up after Colombia attacked a FARC rebel camp in Ecuador in March killing the group's second in command.

Chavez, however, said he was willing to try his hand again in the hostage talks.

FARC top commander Ivan Marquez, in an interview with an Argentine daily, said the likelihood of any hostage release "is over for now," but also said Chavez was the only hope to get Betancourt released.

The FARC has been fighting the Bogota government for more than four decades and is believed to hold hundreds of captives.