7 Europeans Freed in Chad Kidnap Case

A turning point in the case appeared to come on Thursday, when Deby said on state television that he hoped the journalists and members of the flight crew would be freed soon _ distinguishing between them and the charity workers.

Deby told reporters that the Belgian pilot is 75 years old with health problems, and that his case would be treated as a humanitarian matter. It was not clear why the pilot and the rest of the crew were not freed Sunday.

In Brussels on Sunday, Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht said he would send a top diplomat to Chad to learn more about the Belgian pilot's record.

On Saturday, the head of Zoe's Ark, Eric Breteau, told judicial officials in Chad that the journalists and the Spanish flight crew had nothing to do with the group's activities.

The episode comes at a sensitive time in Chad's relations with Europe. The European Union is planning to deploy a peacekeeping force in Chad and Central African Republic composed largely of French soldiers. The 3,000-strong force is to help refugees along the two nations' borders with Darfur.

In July, Sarkozy's then-wife Cecilia helped broker the release of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor held for more than eight years in Libya. They were accused of deliberately infecting hundreds of children with the AIDS virus in a hospital where they worked.

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Associated Press Writer Jenny Barchfield in Paris contributed to this report.