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French army 'wants Chad payment' France urged to feed 'kidnappers'
(about 6 hours later)
The French army is demanding to be paid to feed the six French charity workers who have been charged with child kidnapping in Chad, their lawyer says. The lawyer for six French aid workers detained on child kidnapping charges in a Chad prison has called on the French government to pay for their food.
Gilbert Collard says the army, which has a base in Chad, wants 2,000 euros ($2,900; £1,400) a month, per person. Gilbert Collard said the authorities should have "a minimum of decency".
He told AFP news agency the detainees' families could not afford to pay that much and said the demand was "vulgar". But French officials have told the BBC News website that the six had chosen to eat food from a restaurant, rather than prison food, so they should pay.
The six say they believed the 103 children they were planning to send to France were orphans from Darfur. Mr Collard said the families of the six were being asked to pay for French army rations but the official denied this.
Mr Collard urged the French authorities to have a "minimum of decency". The six say they believed the 103 children they were planning to send to France were orphans from Sudan's war-torn Darfur region.
Mr Collard told the AFP news agency that the families of the charity workers were being asked to pay 2,000 euros ($2,900; £1,400) a month, per person.
'Vulgar'
A French foreign ministry official said the French army, which has a base in Chad, had supplied rations to the six for two weeks, after they were arrested in October in the eastern town of Abeche, near the border with Darfur.
He said they would now being fed by a French restaurant in the capital, N'Djamena.
He would not say how much was being sought from the Zoe's Ark charity but said it was less than 2,000 euros a month.
Mr Collard said the French were showing "unbearable vulgarity" in demanding to be paid.
"Our compatriots will be forced to eat food doled out by Chadian authorities - given the food insecurity there, this is really sad," he said."Our compatriots will be forced to eat food doled out by Chadian authorities - given the food insecurity there, this is really sad," he said.
But the official said this was standard practice and that the six had already received "significant consular assistance".
Hard labourHard labour
Investigations by aid workers suggest the 103 children are mostly from Chad, which borders the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur, and are not orphans. Investigations by aid workers suggest the 103 children are mostly from Chad and are not orphans.
Most of the 103 children say they are Chadian and lived with familySome of their parents say they were either offered inducements to give up their children, or believed they were being sent to school elsewhere in Chad. Most of the 103 children say they are Chadian and lived with family
Some of their parents say they were either offered inducements to give up their children, or believed they were being sent to school elsewhere in Chad.
French officials have said the operation by the Zoe's Ark charity was "illegal and irresponsible".French officials have said the operation by the Zoe's Ark charity was "illegal and irresponsible".
The case has led to violent anti-French protests in Chad.The case has led to violent anti-French protests in Chad.
If found guilty, the charity workers could face several years with hard labour in a Chadian prison.If found guilty, the charity workers could face several years with hard labour in a Chadian prison.