By Swaha Pattanaik

PARIS, Dec 6 (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy called on Colombian rebels in radio and television messages overnight to free French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt, kidnapped in 2002, and other hostages.

"I have a dream -- to see Ingrid with her family for Christmas," he said in a televised message aired overnight and addressed to Manuel Marulanda, head of the Marxist rebel group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

"Mr. Manuel Marulanda, you can make this dream come true, you can save this woman, you can show the world that the FARC understand humanitarian imperatives. Mr. Marulanda, you carry a heavy responsibility. I ask you to assume it."

Colombia on Tuesday proposed direct talks with FARC on the fate of the hostages, including Betancourt, who was captured during her presidential campaign nearly six years ago, and three U.S. contract workers.

Bogota is under heavy pressure to reach a deal to free the hostages after President Alvaro Uribe called a halt on Nov. 21 to mediation efforts by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, causing a diplomatic row.

Proof-of-life videos released by Colombia's government last week led to an outcry over their plight. One showed Betancourt looking gaunt and despondent in her secret jungle prison.

In a separate radio message also broadcast overnight, Sarkozy expressed support for the hostages, particularly Betancourt.

"The documents which have just been published deeply moved us. They show the face of suffering. They reveal the spirit of despair," Sarkozy said, according to the text of the message issued by his office.

"To all of you I want to say, France will not forget you. It will never forget you. Even at this moment, France is looking for new ways to give you back your liberty, to return you to your family and your life."

In his televised message to Marulanda, Sarkozy said he did not share the rebel leader's ideas and condemned his methods, adding that France was committed to securing the hostages' release. (Reporting by Swaha Pattanaik; Editing by Anna Willard and Andrew Dobbie)

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