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| US missionaries charged in Haiti | US missionaries charged in Haiti |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Haiti has charged 10 US missionaries with child abduction and criminal conspiracy for allegedly trying to smuggle 33 children out of the country. | Haiti has charged 10 US missionaries with child abduction and criminal conspiracy for allegedly trying to smuggle 33 children out of the country. |
| Haitian officials said their cases would now be sent to an investigating judge who would decide how to proceed. | Haitian officials said their cases would now be sent to an investigating judge who would decide how to proceed. |
| If convicted they face lengthy jail terms, says the BBC's Paul Adams, in Haiti's quake-hit capital city. | If convicted they face lengthy jail terms, says the BBC's Paul Adams, in Haiti's quake-hit capital city. |
| When stopped on the border last Friday, they said they were taking the children to a Dominican Republic orphanage. | When stopped on the border last Friday, they said they were taking the children to a Dominican Republic orphanage. |
| But it has emerged some of the youngsters had parents who were alive. | But it has emerged some of the youngsters had parents who were alive. |
| 'Kidnappers' | 'Kidnappers' |
| After the hearing the 10 missionaries were taken back to the jail where they have been kept since Friday. | After the hearing the 10 missionaries were taken back to the jail where they have been kept since Friday. |
| ANALYSIS Paul Adams, BBC News, Port-au-Prince We are told that the investigation could last for at least three months. | |
| Clearly in a country where child trafficking, child abduction and child prostitution are all problems that the authorities have grappled with unsuccessfully for a number of years, the authorities here feel that this is something that needs to be investigated properly. | Clearly in a country where child trafficking, child abduction and child prostitution are all problems that the authorities have grappled with unsuccessfully for a number of years, the authorities here feel that this is something that needs to be investigated properly. |
| A lot of international organisations are also saying that in the chaotic aftermath of a disaster of this kind it is simply unacceptable for anyone, no matter how well intentioned, to come into Haiti, scoop up needy children, even if their parents are destitute and willing to give them up, and take them outside the country. | A lot of international organisations are also saying that in the chaotic aftermath of a disaster of this kind it is simply unacceptable for anyone, no matter how well intentioned, to come into Haiti, scoop up needy children, even if their parents are destitute and willing to give them up, and take them outside the country. |
| The situation is simply too chaotic for that kind of approach | The situation is simply too chaotic for that kind of approach |
| Eight of the group were bundled two-by-two into a van outside the court with their heads covered. | Eight of the group were bundled two-by-two into a van outside the court with their heads covered. |
| The group's leader, Laura Silsby, and another member of the group came out with their heads uncovered. | The group's leader, Laura Silsby, and another member of the group came out with their heads uncovered. |
| "I feel good," said Ms Silsby to reporters. "I trust in God." | "I feel good," said Ms Silsby to reporters. "I trust in God." |
| The five men and five women, most of them from Idaho, were due to have a hearing earlier in the week, but that was postponed because of a lack of interpreters. | The five men and five women, most of them from Idaho, were due to have a hearing earlier in the week, but that was postponed because of a lack of interpreters. |
| Haiti's Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive has labelled the Americans "kidnappers". | Haiti's Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive has labelled the Americans "kidnappers". |
| Justice Minister Paul Denis said they should be tried in Haiti despite the damage done to the country's judicial infrastructure and casualties among judges and court staff. | |
| There have been suggestions the 10 could be tried in the US. | |
| "It is Haitian law that has been violated it is up to the Haitian authorities to hear and judge the case," he told AFP news agency. | |
| "I don't see any reason why they should be tried in the United States." | |
| Residents in the village of Callebas told an Associated Press news agency reporter they had handed their children over through a local orphanage worker who said he was acting on the Americans' behalf. | Residents in the village of Callebas told an Associated Press news agency reporter they had handed their children over through a local orphanage worker who said he was acting on the Americans' behalf. |
| The worker is said to have promised the families that the missionaries would educate their children in neighbouring Dominican Republic. | The worker is said to have promised the families that the missionaries would educate their children in neighbouring Dominican Republic. |
| A number of parents in the badly-damaged village said they would find it difficult to provide for their children if they came back. | A number of parents in the badly-damaged village said they would find it difficult to provide for their children if they came back. |
| The mission's leader, Laura Silsby, has said her group had met a Haitian pastor by chance when they arrived last week, and that he had helped them gather the children. She also admitted that they did not have the proper paperwork. | The mission's leader, Laura Silsby, has said her group had met a Haitian pastor by chance when they arrived last week, and that he had helped them gather the children. She also admitted that they did not have the proper paperwork. |
| "Our intent was to help only those children that needed us most, that had lost either both their mother and father, or had lost one of their parents and the other had abandoned them," she said from her jail cell on Wednesday. | "Our intent was to help only those children that needed us most, that had lost either both their mother and father, or had lost one of their parents and the other had abandoned them," she said from her jail cell on Wednesday. |