French President Nicolas Sarkozy's new wife Carla Bruni attended her first official function on Saturday, meeting the family of French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt to mark her sixth year in captivity.
 
The president and first lady met Betancourt's daughter, son and ex-husband, as well as former congresswoman Consuelo Gonzalez who was freed in January by the Colombian Marxist rebels who also kidnapped Betancourt in 2002.

Betancourt, a former Colombian presidential candidate, is among dozens of high-profile captives held by the guerrillas, and Sarkozy has made her release a foreign policy priority.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner visited Caracas and Bogota this week to press for her release.

Betancourt's daughter Melanie Delloye said after the meeting that she was moved by Bruni's remarks to the family.

"She was listening carefully and her words to us were very touching," she said.

Bruni, a former top model turned singer, will make her first official trip with her husband to Britain in March.

Sarkozy's popularity has been hit by his high-profile whirlwind romance and marriage to Carla earlier this month.

Carla Bruni Tedeschi was born in Turin, Italy, on 23 December 1967, is an Italian-born French supermodel, songwriter and singer.

She is the daughter of rich industrialist and classical composer Alberto Bruni Tedeschi and Marysa Borini, Italian concert pianist, and sister of Valeria Bruni Tedeschi. Born in Turin, she grew up in France from the age of five and later attended boarding school in Switzerland. She eventually returned to Paris to study art and architecture, but left school at 19 to become a model full-time... read more...