Almost all of the 103 children whom a French charity tried to fly out of Chad have now been interviewed by relief agencies. Their stories appear to contradict those of the 17 Europeans who have been charged over the operation. The UN and the Red Cross say most of the children say they had been living with their families, consisting of at least one adult they considered to be a parent.

The charity had described them as orphans rescued from Sudan’s Darfur region. Portugal’s foreign minister, Luis Amado, hopes African-European relations have not been damaged. He said: “We have a very important strategic agenda for the future and we could not disrupt what we have in mind in the medium and long term relation between Africa and European by a small and minor problem.” France has called for the release of two journalists who had been travelling with the charity.

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