[JURIST] Chad's Higher Judicial Council on Friday recommended that Chadian President Idriss Deby [official website, in French; BBC profile] pardon six French aid workers convicted in Chad in December of attempting to kidnap [JURIST reports] 103 African children. Deby said earlier this month that he may pardon the aid workers within weeks [JURIST report], but that he was waiting for an official request from France. Reuters has more.

The aid workers, affiliated with charity Zoe's Ark [advocacy website, in French], said they were attempting to airlift orphaned children from the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur [JURIST news archives], but investigations revealed that most of the children were not Sudanese or orphans. In January, another aid worker was charged in French court [JURIST report] with conspiring to allow illegal residents into the country in connection with the foiled airlift.