Chad leader pardons 6 aid workers

Six French aid workers sentenced last year for abducting African children were pardoned by Chadian President Idriss Deby and released from prison in France, justice officials said.

The six were convicted in Chad of trying to fly more than 100 children to Europe without permission, and the pardon does not mean that their criminal records are cleared.

The Zoe’s Ark charity workers, who had testified that they believed they were trying to rescue war orphans from the Darfur region of Chad’s neighbor Sudan, were flown back to France in late December and were serving their prison sentences there.

But United Nations and Chadian officials said most of the children were not orphans and came from Chadian border villages, where their parents had been persuaded to give them up in exchange for promises of education.