A French court source said on Friday that the organisation Zoe's Ark is undergoing investigation for removing Chadian children from their country for adoption purposes in 2008, falsely passing off the children as Sudanese orphans.
A man claiming to have kidnapped two aid workers has threatened to kill them in a telephone interview with FRANCE 24 unless France retries the Zoe's Ark members who were convicted but later pardoned for abducting children from Chad in 2007.
Two female aid workers - working on Sudan's border with Chad for a French charity - told AFP and FRANCE 24 over the phone that they were being treated well. Their abductors claim to have targeted France in retaliation for the 2007 Zoe's Ark fiasco.
Six French aid workers jailed in France for abducting 103 African children have been freed after being pardoned by Chad. The decision come after France provided logistical support to President Déby when rebels attacked his capital in February.
The six members of French charity Zoe's Ark, convicted for attempting to kidnap 103 African children, were released from prison on Monday following a pardon by Chadian President Idriss Deby. FRANCE 24's Paul Barber reports.
Chadian President Idriss Deby on Monday granted a presidential pardon to six French aid workers who were sentenced to eight years in prison for attempting to kidnap 103 children and fly them to Europe. Watch France 24's special report.
Chad's President Idriss Deby signed a pardon for six French aid workers jailed in December for attempting to smuggle 103 African children out of Chad, according to Chadian state radio.
Chad's Higher Judicial Council cleared President Idriss Deby to pardon six French charity workers who were sentenced to eight years' jail last year in the Zoe's Ark kidnapping scandal. (Report: K. Williams)
The 103 African children, mainly from Chad, have been staying at an orphanage in Abeche ever since the French charity Zoe's Ark tried to take them to France, claiming they were Darfur refugees.
Over 100 African youngsters will rejoin their families some five months after a French charity Zoe's Ark tried to take the children out of Chad, claiming they were Darfur refugees, UNICEF says.
