Authorities in Chad today charged six French nationals with kidnapping after they tried to take 103 children to Europe in an incident that threatens to complicate relations between the two countries.
Seven Spanish citizens, the crew of the charter plane in the operation, were also charged with being accessories to crime, said the communications minister, Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor.
Those accused of kidnapping are the president and other members of the French charity Zoe's Ark including two journalists. The charity said it was trying to help the children, not abduct them, and that it acted legally.
European families had each paid the group several thousand euros for a child.
Zoe's Ark said the children - described as orphans from Sudan's Darfur region - would have a better life in Europe.
More than four years of conflict in Darfur has left more than 200,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced - many to eastern Chad.
Gilbert Collard, a lawyer for Zoe's Ark, accused Chad's government of using the situation for political ends. He said the children were from a region on the border between Chad and Sudan and "we are unable to tell which country they are from".
Idriss Deby, the Chadian president, has called the operation "pure and simple abduction" and demanded tough penalties for those responsible. He suggested the children could have ended up being sold to a paedophile ring or used to supply human organs.
"These people ... treat us like animals. So this is the image of the saviour Europe, which gives lessons to our countries. This is the image of Europe which helps Africans," he was quoted as saying on Chad's presidency website.
French diplomats said they had warned Zoe's Ark for months against the project, but Christophe Letien, a spokesman for the charity, insisted its intentions were humanitarian.
"The team is made up of firemen, doctors and journalists," he said at a news conference. "It's unimaginable that doubts are being cast on these people of good faith, who volunteered to save children from Darfur."
In France, police searched the charity's offices as well as the apartment of its founder as part of an inquiry into whether the group broke adoption laws. The group had initially promised some families that they could adopt - not merely host - children from Darfur, French officials have said.
The arrests come as a predominantly French EU force is preparing to deploy in eastern Chad, one of Africa's most violent regions, to protect refugees on the border with Darfur.
The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, called Mr Deby this weekend to discuss the case. France has led the push for the peacekeepers, and the uproar over the charity's actions risks complicating efforts to ensure a smooth start for the force, which Chad initially had resisted.
Chad is said to have assured France that the row will not affect the deployment. "Because this affair has nothing to do with the deployment of the multidimensional force, there are no possible consequences," France's minister for human rights, Rama Yade, told Europe-1 radio. "And Mr Deby assured us of that."
Camp de réfugiés du Darfour au Tchad. 
Neuf citoyens français, qui ont été arrêté après avoir été interpelés alors qu'ils essayaient de quitter le pays par avion en emmenant une centaine d'enfants du pays, feront face à des accusations d'enlèvement, ont indiqué les autorités tchadiennes. Sept citoyens espagnols, qui constituait l'équipage de l'avion, sont eux accusés de complicité d'enlèvement. Deux citoyens canadiens sont aussi accusés.

Six des Français, membres d'une organisation caritative appelée , ont dit qu'ils essayaient de porter secours aux enfants de la crise humanitaire due au conflit du Darfour. Les trois autres sont des journalistes, qui couvraient le . Le procureur d'Abéché, Ahmat Daoud, a indiqué : . Ils pourraient être condamnés à 20 ans de travaux forcés si ils étaient reconnus coupables.

L' a présenté les enfants comme des orphelins et indiqué qu'ils pourraient mener une vie meilleure en Europe. , a déclaré leur porte-parole, Christophe Letien, lors d'une conférence de presse.  Cependant, l'agence de presse française CAPA a publié une interview dans laquelle un membre de l' indique qu'ils ne peuvent être complètement sûr que les enfants soient des orphelins nécessitant de l'aide.

Selon Annette Rehrl, porte-parole du Haut Commissariat des Nations unies pour les réfugiés, peu d'enfants s'avèrent être réellement orphelins. , a déclaré Annette Rehrl.

Les autorités françaises ont indiqué avoir prévenu le groupe de ne pas effectuer cette opération depuis des mois. Les responsables de l' en France ont cherché à savoir si le groupe enfreignait les lois françaises sur l'adoption en promettant aux familles qu'elles pourraient adopter et non seulement héberger les enfants.

Le Président tchadien, Idriss Déby, a déclaré que c'était une affaire d'. Il a également suggéré que l' pourrait avoir servi de fournisseur à des réseaux pédophiles ou de les utiliser comme donneurs pour les transplantations d'organes.

L'Union européenne est sur le point de déployer une force de maintien de la paix, incluant des soldats français, le long de la frontière entre le Tchad et le Soudan. Idriss Déby a assuré à son homologue français, Nicolas Sarkozy, qu'il ne tenterait pas de bloquer les troupes de l'Union européenne.