Aid workers jailed for taking Chad children

Six French aid workers were sentenced to eight years of hard labour after a court in Chad's capital found them guilty of trying to kidnap 103 children and fly them out of the country.

The sentence opens the way for a diplomatic deal to secure the return of the six to France, although the case caused long-simmering resentment against French colonialism to bubble up among the Chadian public and triggered local protests against child trafficking by the French.

It also prompted accusations that the Chadian justice system had been speeded up under political pressure from Paris, which is a strong supporter of Chadian President Idriss Dby.

The six aid workers belonging to the French organisation L'Arche de Zoe (Zoe's Ark), which confusingly went under the name Children Rescue in Chad, had maintained their innocence since their arrest in October. "I maintain what I've said since the start of this affair... our intention was to fetch orphans from Darfur," the Zoe's Ark's leader, Eric Breteau, told the court on the last day of the four-day trial.

Zoe's Ark maintained that the children were to be flown to France for fostering, with the knowledge of the French government. But the investigation proved that the majority of the children, aged one to 10, were not orphans and had come from the Chadian side of the border. Prosecutors said the group, led by M. Breteau and Emilie Lelouch, duped parents in eastern Chad into handing over their children with promises of schooling.

The Chadian government said that the six, who were on trial with three Chadians and one Sudanese, had not been authorised to leave the north African country with the children. It also emerged that a junior French minister had raised doubts about the operation's legality last August. The UN children's organisation Unicef said last month that the planned airlift had breached international law.

Immediately after the announcement of the harsh penalty, France called for the six to be transferred home, where they are expected to serve out at least a part of their sentence.

The Chadian prosecutor had demanded sentences of between 7 and 11 years. Lawyer Philippe Houssine said the sentences requested were justified because M. Breteau and Mme Lelouch had shown no remorse. "On the contrary, he (Breteau) displays an arrogant, insolent attitude, which means this is a person who is ready to do it again if asked," he said.

The case raised questions about the gesticulatory style of government of the French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who flew to N'djamena to collect a first batch of prisoners, including three French journalists and four Spanish cabin crew, after they were set free last month. His plane stopped off in Madrid with the Spaniards.

There were fears that the crisis could affect delicate negotiations on a French-led European peacekeeping force to be deployed in eastern Chad to help prevent the Darfur conflict spilling across the border.