Chad:The mystery surrounding the alleged abduction of 103 African children by French charity workers deepened yesterday as relief agencies confirmed most of the children were not orphans as claimed by the charity at the centre of the scandal.
In a joint statement, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and Unicef said staff had spent several days talking to the 21 girls and 82 boys, aged between one and 10.
They reported that 91 children seemed to come from a "family environment with at least one adult in a parental role".
Chadian authorities have charged 19 people in connection with the alleged abduction which emerged when members of a little-known French charity named Zoe's Ark were caught attempting to fly the children to France on a chartered aircraft last week.
Nine French nationals - six charity workers and three journalists reporting on the operation - have been charged with kidnapping and fraud, while seven Spanish aircraft crew have been charged as accomplices. A Belgian pilot and two Chadian nationals have also been charged.
The charity workers have rejected the abduction allegations, insisting they acted in good faith. They claim the children were presented to them as Sudanese orphans at risk from the conflict in neighbouring Darfur.
The charity says it planned to place the children with French host families who had paid several thousand euro each.
However, the three relief agencies said it appeared most of the children hailed from villages along Chad's border with Sudan, a volatile territory strained not only by a massive influx of Darfuri refugees but also Chadian rebel violence and tribal conflict.
"So far, the interviews carried out with the children - some of whom could not provide any information due to their young age - led to the preliminary conclusion that most, probably 85, come from Chadian villages near the cities of Adré and Tine alongside the Chadian-Sudanese border," the statement said.
The children, who are being looked after at an orphanage in the eastern town of Abeche, were interviewed individually by relief workers hoping to trace the children's parents or relatives.
"Collecting information to start tracing the children's families is a painstaking undertaking and particularly challenging considering the number of children, their young age and the prevailing situation in the region," the agencies said.
The episode has caused outrage in Chad, prompting street demonstrations and speculation by president Idriss Deby that the children could have been sold to a paedophile ring or to organ traffickers. Mr Deby also said yesterday he hoped the French journalists and Spanish air crew would soon be freed.
"I hope for my part that the Chadian justice system can quickly shed light on this and that the journalists and also the hostesses will be freed. But I can't force the hand of Chadian justice, there is a procedure," he said.