Sabine Dardenne

VICTIM GIVES EVIDENCE

A young woman held captive for 80 days in a cellar is giving evidence at the trial of Belgian alleged child killer Marc Dutroux.

Sabine Dardenne, who was only 12 when she was taken prisoner, was "fiercely determined" to testify.

Dutroux, 47, is charged with kidnapping and rape of six girls, and the murder of two of them.

Dardenne, now 20, appeared in court only feet away from Dutroux.

Her lawyer said she was "naturally anxious, but fiercely determined" to say exactly what happened in those dark days of 1996.

"It will above all be the test of truth for Dutroux and his accomplices," said lawyer Jean-Philippe Riviere.

"For Sabine, it is a confrontation she has been waiting for for seven and a half years.

	Accused: Marc Detroux

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Dardenne was abducted in 1996 near the southern town of Tournai and later found in a cellar along with another girl Laetitia Delhez.

Delhez, also kidnapped in 1996 at Bertrix, will also give evidence this week.

The court earlier heard that Dutroux, shortly after his arrest, had led police to where the two girls were being held prisoner at Marcinelle, southern Belgium.

The two women's evidence is seen as vital to the outcome of the case.

There is an ongoing debate in Belgium over whether the defendant acted on his own in committing the crimes he is accused of, or was part of a paedophilia network.

Dutroux, who is expected to testify, admits kidnapping and rape but denies murder.

He faces a maximum of life imprisonment if found guilty.