N'DJAMENA (AP):

President Idriss Deby on Monday pardoned six French aid workers convicted in a kidnapping case, Chadian state-owned radio said.

The six workers from a charity called Zoe's Ark had tried to take the 103 children to France in October, claiming they were acting out of humanitarian concern for orphans from Sudan's Darfur region. But investigations showed the children were Chadian, and that most had at least one parent or close adult relative.

After convictions in Chad, the six were transferred to France to serve their sentences under a judicial agreement.

The children involved, meanwhile, spent months in an orphanage after their flight to France was stopped, and some have yet to be reunited with their families. Delays were linked to bureaucratic difficulties, Chadian government officials' determination to ensure the children were returned to the correct guardians and insecurity in eastern Chad.