BOGOTA, March 28 (Reuters) - Colombia will immediately free hundreds of guerrilla fighters if the rebels release politician Ingrid Betancourt, who is in ill health after being held hostage for years in secret jungle camps, the government said.

President Alvaro Uribe signed a decree late on Thursday allowing the massive release of guerrillas from jail if French-Colombian Betancourt, kidnapped during her 2002 presidential campaign and ailing from hepatitis B, is set free, Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo told reporters.

"The legal basis for a humanitarian exchange has been established and we have reduced the requirements as much as possible," Restrepo said.

"The government has joined the national and international cry that the life of Ingrid Betancourt be saved. We cannot run risks in this case and there is no more time to wait," he added.

Earlier on Thursday Colombian human rights ombudsman Wolmar Perez said Betancourt's health was "very, very delicate."

Reports received by Perez's office say Betancourt appears malnourished and her skin is raw with infected insect bites. He said she suffers from hepatitis B and had been brought by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, last month to be treated at first aid stations in jungle towns controlled by the guerrillas. (Reporting by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Eric Beech)

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