President Jacques Chirac said France was determined to secure the release of kidnapped Colombian-French politician Ingrid Betancourt, as artists and celebrities held a concert in her honor Monday.

In a message read aloud at the evening concert, Chirac said that French authorities were “fully mobilized” and felt ‘‘unflinching determination” to see Betancourt walk free from her nearly four-year captivity.

In 2002, Colombia’s main rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, kidnapped Ingrid Betancourt, a former presidential candidate, seeking to swap her and dozens of other hostages for their members held in government prisons. The deal, however, remains far off.

“France is doing all it can to obtain the liberation of Ingrid Betancourt and all the hostages detained in Colombia,” Chirac said in his message. ‘‘This evening, the voice of artists, the voices of all those gathered, will carry to Colombia an expression of commitment and hope.”

Dozens of French singers and celebrities gathered at a theater off Paris’ Champs-Elysees boulevard to show their support for Betancourt.

Betancourt’s daughter, Melanie, who was also present, said that Colombia’s upcoming elections next year made it an important time to lobby authorities.

“During this period, politicians are more flexible and we can put pressure on them,” Melanie Betancourt told France-2 television. “During this campaign, the most important issue is the hostages.”
“We have to fight for the hostages in Colombia. We can’t forget them,” she said.