Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants his country's citizens who allegedly kidnapped children in Chad to face trial in France, he told a press conference broadcast from N'Djamena, the African nation's capital, by La Chaine Info.

Sarkozy said it was ``normal'' for a French president to wish to see ``nationals judged in France.'' He said the two countries' judicial authorities were discussing the case and would decide ``within weeks'' where it would be heard.

Chadian President Idriss Deby said during the conference the case was ``purely a judicial problem'' and brushed away any disagreements between France and Chad.

Sarkozy visited Chad today to discuss the legal fate of six French citizens involved in the attempted removal of 103 children from the African region.

Since Oct. 25, Chad authorities have detained 17 Europeans after workers from Arche de Zoe, or Zoe's Ark, a charity set up to rescue war orphans, allegedly tried to fly the children through Chad to France. The charity said the children, aged 1 to 10, were orphans from Sudan's Darfur region.

International aid agencies said Nov. 1 that most of the children involved have a parent.

Parents Living

Ninety-one of the 103 children referred to a family environment, including at least one parent, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and UNICEF said in a joint e-mailed statement. Talks were continuing with the 12 others to obtain more information, they said.

Chad judicial authorities today freed seven Europeans linked to the case. Sarkozy said shortly before he left to return to Europe that they would travel in the plane with him.

In July, two months after Sarkozy's election to the French presidency, his wife, Cecilia, visited Tripoli twice to help gain the release of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who spent eight years in a Libyan jail on charges of infecting children with HIV.

Cecilia Sarkozy flew with the medics from Tripoli to Sofia in a French government plane when they were freed on July 24. Sarkozy then visited Tripoli and has since invited Qaddafi to France in December. Cecilia Sarkozy and the French president announced their divorce earlier this month.

To contact the reporter on this story: Helene Fouquet in Paris hfouquet1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 4, 2007 13:24 EST