6 Charged in Darfur 'Kidnapping'

Six French nationals who attempted to fly children from Chad to France for adoption have been charged with kidnapping. The Chad government also detained 11 other alleged accomplices, including the flight crew, reports the AP. Charity group L'Arche de Zoe had arranged French host families for 103 children they called orphans of the Darfur conflict.

Chad’s president Idriss Deby called the efforts “a straightforward kidnapping” and promised punishment. French diplomats had warned the charity not to undertake the flight and French president Nicolas Sarkozy called Deby to try to discuss it this weekend. “It's unimaginable that doubts are being cast on these people of good faith,” said a L’arche de Zoe spokesman. (More Darfur stories.)