French aid workers released from jail

PARIS (Reuters) - Six French aid workers imprisoned forabducting African children were released on Monday after theywere pardoned by Chad's President Idriss Deby, justiceofficials said.

Dominique Aubry, one of the members of the Zoe's Arkcharity sentenced to eight years' hard labour by a Chadiancourt late last year came out of the prison in northern Francewhere he was serving his sentence, television pictures showed.

"I will try to be cleared one day," he told reportersoutside the prison in Caen. "I don't know how. We'll see," hesaid, before criticising some of the media coverage of thecase.

Four others, including the group's leader Eric Breteau werealso released. A sixth member, Nadia Merimi is in a hospitalnear Paris but she is no longer in detention, a justiceministry spokesman said.

The six were convicted in Chad of trying to fly 103 Africanchildren to Europe without permission and the pardon does notmean that their criminal records are cleared.

The charity workers, who had denied the charges, were flownback to France in late December and were serving their prisonsentences there under a cooperation agreement.

In their court testimony in Chad, the six had said theybelieved they were trying to rescue war orphans from theconflict-torn Darfur region of Chad's eastern neighbour Sudan.

But U.N. and Chadian officials said most of the childrenwere not orphans and came from Chadian border villages, wheretheir parents had been persuaded to give up their offspring inexchange for promises of education.

Breteau avoided waiting reporters when he left Fresnesprison south of Paris but Gilbert Collard, a lawyerrepresenting him and fellow detainee Emilie Lelouch, saidearlier his client would speak out about the affair.

"They will be able to defend themselves as they were notable to defend themselves up to now," he told Reuters. "Oncethey are freed, they will have the means to speak freely."

The release of the detainees just five months into theirsentences draws a line under a stormy period between France andits former colony although four of the group still faceinvestigation in France for possible breaches of French law.

The episode sparked angry protests in Chad and the groupwas condemned as misguided and foolish by the French governmentbut many in France were also angered by the tone of much of thecomment coming from Chad.

France's diplomatic and military support helped Debyweather a rebel assault on the capital N'Djamena in earlyFebruary, and the Chadian leader made it clear he was ready topardon the French aid workers.

(Additional reporting by Moumine Ngarmbassa in N'Djamenaand Gerard Bon in Paris; Editing by Pascal Fletcher)