Reuters: 18 charged over Chad child row 31 October

Sixteen Europeans are accused of participating in the alleged kidnap of 103 children in eastern Chad -- including six members of an aid group which claims it intended to fly orphans from the war-torn Darfur region to safety in France. Nine French nationals, including six aid workers of Zoe's Ark and three journalists, were charged late Monday with "kidnapping minors" and "fraud". Seven Spanish aircraft crew and two Chadian nationals were charged with complicity.

Their departure from Chad followed a highly publicised legal case and diplomatic imbroglio which embarrassed France, a key backer of Chadian President Idriss Deby. French troops and planes stationed in Chad have given logistical and intelligence support to Deby's army fighting rebels in the east. France is also the main contributor of troops to a European Union peace force preparing to deploy in eastern Chad to protect thousands of Sudanese refugees and displaced Chadian civilians.

Chadian authorities have charged nine French nationals with abduction and fraud over an alleged attempt to fly more than 100 children to Europe. Seven Spanish charter plane crew and two local Chadian officials have been charged as accessories.

Six charity workers convicted in Chad of trying to kidnap children and fly them to France are awaiting their sentence. The six members of the aid group Zoe's Ark were ordered to serve eight years of hard labour by a Chadian court, but now that they have been extradited to France, their sentence is being recast. Only five of the six defendants were in court on Monday, including Zoe's Ark founder Eric Breteau, who has been on hunger strike since his return from Chad. The group insists it was pursuing a humanitarian goal: to rescue children from the crisis in Darfur.

The members of the French humanitarian group Zoe's Ark were arrested in late October for trying to fly the children aged 1-10 to Europe.

Chadian president pardoned six French charity workers on Monday, after the members of Zoe's Ark had been sentenced in December to eight years of hard labour for attempting to fly 103 African children to France. The official decrees, published in Chad's capital N'djamena, have now to be transmitted to French authorities who could free the aid workers within the next 24 hours.

Chadian authorities detained nine members of the French charity Zoe's Ark which said the children were being evacuated by charter plane to France for medical reasons. Seven Spanish air crew from the plane are also being held.

The court appearance came after three French journalists and four Spanish air crew arrived home following their release by Chadian authorities over the weekend.

Paris is scrambling to contain a row sparked by a French charity's bid to airlift more than 100 children out of Chad, a key ally for Europe's peacekeeping strategy in Sudan's war-ravaged Darfur region. President Idriss Deby Itno reacted furiously to the botched operation, even suggesting the charity Zoe's Ark planned to sell the children to pedophiles or "kill them and remove their organs". Nine French nationals, seven Spaniards and a Belgian are facing possible child trafficking charges over the case, which has strained ties with France's former colony. A news report on the affair.