CHAD:The leader of a French aid group accused of trying to kidnap 103 African children in Chad, told a N'Djamena court yesterday his actions had been a legitimate humanitarian mission to save war orphans from Darfur.
Eric Breteau said French and Chadian authorities had been aware of the operation attempted by his group, Zoe's Ark, to try and save child victims of the conflict in Sudan's western Darfur region bordering Chad.
Mr Breteau and five other members of the Zoe's Ark group are accused of abduction and fraud.
"I contest the charges against us," Mr Breteau said on the opening day of the trial.
Wearing a shirt carrying the name of Children Rescue, under which Zoe's Ark operated in Chad, he looked thin as he and the other accused have been on hunger strike for over a week, refusing food but drinking water.
They were arrested in late October as they tried to fly the children, aged 1-10, out of eastern Chad to Europe. Chadian authorities said they attempted this without permission.
If convicted, the six could face forced labour sentences of between five to 20 years. But many believe they will be pardoned or allowed to serve jail terms in France under bilateral accords.
He said international rights conventions sanctioned efforts to save war victims, such as children caught up in Darfur's conflict that has killed around 200,000 people in the Sudanese region since 2003.
The Zoe's Ark case has embarrassed France, which supports the Chad government. It has troops stationed in its former colony and is providing the bulk of a European Union peacekeeping force intended to be deployed in east Chad in January.
Asked by the judge why some of the children were found to be Chadian not Darfuri, and not orphans, Mr Breteau said local intermediaries employed by Zoe's Ark had assured them the children had no living parents and came from Darfur.
French president Nicolas Sarkozy has said he would prefer the French to be tried in France. Armed riot police were outside the court, where angry protests have occurred against the six and against perceived French interference in the case.
Chadian and UN officials said most of the 103 children in the case had at least one living parent and came from villages on the Chad-Sudan border.
The parents of several children said they had been duped by the Zoe's Ark workers into giving up their infants with the promise of schooling for them in east Chad - but that there had never been any mention of taking them away to France. The trial continues today.