The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), said in a statement that Raul Reyes, one of its top leaders, "died as he was trying to get in a meeting with President Sarkozy where progress would have been made in finding solutions to Ingrid Betancourt's situation."
FARC is seeking to reach a deal with the Colombian government on swapping some 40 high-value captives, including Betancourt, a French-Colombian citizen kidnapped in 2002 while campaigning for the presidency, with 500 imprisoned FARC members, including some extradited to the United States.
Reyes, whose real name was Luis Edgar Devia Silva, was killed by the Colombian military in an attack on a jungle camp across the Colombia-Ecuador border on Saturday.
His death sparked a regional tension as Ecuador has accused Colombia's cross-border move of a violation of Ecuador's territorial sovereignty which was also condemned by Venezuela.
Ecuador broke off diplomatic ties on Monday with Colombia, while Venezuela expelled the Colombian ambassador. Both Ecuador and Venezuela have boosted their military deployment in the borders with Colombia.
France had said that Reyes was their contact in seeking to free Betancourt.
France's Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, after Reyes' death, called for more efforts to free Betancourt, saying "it is very bad news that the man with whom we were speaking has died."
Bespectacled and bearded Reyes, had been regarded as FARC's No.2 leader and a possible successor to the group's 77-year-old head Manuel Marulanda.
Famous for his tough stance in the past negotiations with the government, Reyes was FARC's public face as its official spokesman who often sent statements from the mountains of Colombia. A former union leader, he joined FARC in the 1970s.
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