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October 11, 2008 11:36:12 PM CDT

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Chad Pardons, Frees French 'Orphan' Kidnappers

Posted Apr 1, 08 11:49 AM CDT in World 

(Newser) – The six men imprisoned for kidnapping 103 Chadian children have been pardoned and freed from a French prison, reports the BBC. Convicted in Chad and sentenced to hard labor, the members of charity group Zoe's Ark had been transferred to a facility in France, and received a pardon from Chadian president Idriss Deby yesterday.

The move is seen as a goodwill gesture to the French government after it helped Deby quell a coup attempt in February. The members of Zoe's Ark had traveled to Africa to "rescue" orphans from the Sudanese region of Darfur, but the children they were attempting to fly to France were Chadian, and almost all of them had at least one parent.

Source BBC

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Doctor Philippe Van Winkelberg from the French charity Zoe's Ark gets out of Draguignan's prison, southern France, with his wife Antonia, Monday, March 31, 2008.   (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
Doctor Philippe Van Winkelberg from the French charity Zoe's Ark gets out of Draguignan's prison, southern France, Monday, March 31, 2008.   (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
Eric Breteau, head of French charity Zoe's Ark is escorted by Chadian policemen, in this Nov. 8, 2007 file photo at the court in the Chadian capital, N'Djamena.   (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo, files)
Children play in an orphanage at Abeche, Chad where 103 children were being cared for after authorities arrested charity workers and plane operators.   (AP Photo/Drahim Adji, Chad Presidency, HO)
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kidnapping  • Darfur  • Chad  • pardon  • Idriss Deby  • Zoe's Ark


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