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October 30, 2007

Chad Charges 16 Europeans in Alleged Kidnapping of African Children
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1A10B1F:A6F02AD83191E160886F602B9FCD7E6F30EB2FA2E66CBB22 Six French members
of Zoe's Ark charity among those charged





Eric Breteau, left, president of French charity Zoe's Ark and some of
16 Europeans charged with kidnapping or complicity in Chad, 30 Oct
2007Officials in Chad say a judge has charged 16 Europeans with
kidnapping and other offenses after they tried to fly 103 African
children out of the country to live with families in France.

Officials say the judge in the eastern town of Abeche charged nine
French citizens late Monday with abduction and fraud. The French
nationals include six members of the charity Zoe's Ark and three
journalists.

The Chadian judge also charged seven Spanish crew members of a charter
plane with complicity in what prosecutors are calling a kidnapping
attempt.

Chadian police detained the 16 Europeans last Thursday just before
their plane was due to take off from Abeche with the children on
board.

Zoe's Ark says it arranged for French families to look after the
children to save them from possible death in Sudan's Darfur region.
But, U.N. workers said after interviewing the children that most
appeared to be Chadian, and not from Darfur.

Chadian President Idriss Deby has condemned the incident as a
"straightforward kidnapping" and promised to punish those involved.

But, he also has assured French President Nicolas Sarkozy that the
issue will not affect European plans to deploy peacekeepers on the
Chadian border with Darfur.

The European Union recently authorized the deployment of three
thousand peacekeepers on Darfur's borders with Chad and the Central
African Republic. Violence from the Darfur conflict has spilled over
into both countries, displacing thousands of people.

Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.


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