By Anna Willard
Chad's president, Idriss Deby, who last week received the endorsement of the former colonial power as he fought off a rebel attack on his capital, has said he is ready to issue a pardon.
The episode caused outrage in Chad and their group, Zoe's Ark, was widely criticised at home for acting irresponsibly.
"Of course if the members of Zoe's Ark sent us a request for a pardon, we would immediately transmit it to the Chadian authorities," Sarkozy's spokesman David Martinon told a regular news briefing in Paris.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Pascale Andreani denied there was a link between France's support for Deby and his willingness to pardon the aid workers. She said each individual would have to make a separate request.
Most of the children were found to have come from families in Chadian border villages who had been persuaded to give up their offspring in exchange for promises of education.
"I am ready to pardon them," he said. "The Chadian children did not leave ... we were able to avoid the worst."
