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French held over Chad 'adoptions' | ||
They include the head of a group called Zoe's Ark that had said it wanted to bring children from Sudan's Darfur region for adoption in France. The nine were arrested at Abeche, near the Chad-Darfur border. A Paris court has launched a criminal investigation. The French foreign ministry has condemned the incident. Chad's Interior Minister, Ahmat Mahamat Bachir, said nine French citizens had been arrested at Abeche airport and were being held in police custody in the town. "They had no official authorisation. We have opened an inquiry," Bachir told Reuters news agency by telephone. They had planned to fly the children to France in a rented French charter plane, Mr Bachir said. He said the 103 children were aged between three and eight, and included some Chadians. In August, the French authorities issued a warning about the activities of Zoe's Ark, saying there was no guarantee that the children whom the group wanted to transport were actually orphans. | ||
