Chad 7: 'Captor' in hospital

2007-11-12 07:20

N'Djamena - One of six imprisoned members of a French charity that tried to fly 103 children from Chad to France was admitted to hospital on Sunday for an undisclosed ailment in the Chadian capital.

Lawyer Abdou Lamia said: "She took her medications. I didn't have time to ask her questions but things are better now," referring to client Nadia Merimi who was sent to a French military base for treatment.

Lamia, who visited Merimi at the base, suggested her condition stemmed more from fear than a medical problem. But a Chadian prison official suggested a possible suicide attempt, which could not be confirmed.

Merimi was among six members of the Zoe's Ark charity imprisoned in Chad after trying to fly children it claimed were orphans from Sudan's war-torn Darfur region to France, where foster carers awaited them.

Chad said the group did not have permission to take the children out of the country, and aid agencies who had since cared for the children said that most of them were Chadian and had at least one living parent.

Four Chadians were also incarcerated in N'Djamena in connection with the affair, but 11 other Europeans originally arrested with the Zoe's Ark members had since been released and flown home.

- AFP