Child murder confessions revive Belgium's worst nightmare

HOT on the heels of a paedophile murder trial that revived ugly memories for Belgium, a French forestry worker has confessed to the murder of six girls over a 14-year period and has been accused of killing several other people.

Prosecutor Anne Thily said Michel Fourniret, who has been in detention since June 2003 for abduction of minors and sexual misconduct, confessed to "six murders of girls" in Belgium and France between 1987 and 2001.

Among the victims was Elisabeth Brichet, a Belgian girl who was 12 when she was kidnapped near Namur, southern Belgium, in December 1989.