"It's not impossible if France asks for it ... Of course it's not impossible for me to consider that question," Deby said, when asked if he would pardon the six members of French humanitarian group Zoe's Ark, convicted in December.

Deby was speaking after meeting French Defence Minister Herve Morin, who was in Chad to show his support for Deby's government after rebels attacked the capital N'Djamena at the weekend and besieged his presidential palace.

It was not clear whether Deby and Morin spoke about the French activists, who were arrested in Chad in October for trying to kidnap 103 African children, who they attempted to take to Europe without permission from the authorities.

They were sentenced in Chad to eight years of hard labour but were later flown back to France under a cooperation agreement between the two countries. A French court converted the charges to French jail terms of the same length.

Zoe's Ark said it was rescuing orphans from Sudan's Darfur region, a conflict zone across Chad's eastern border, and that it intended to fly them to Europe for fostering there.

Most of the children were found to have come from families in Chadian border villages who were persuaded to give up their offspring in exchange for promises of education.