Peacekeepers release three employees of Islamic charity

Authorities have released three employees of an Islamic charity who had been detained on suspicions they were financing terrorists.

The men were detained mid-December after the offices of their employer, the Global Relief Foundation, were raided.

"There was no justification in detaining these individuals further," said Daz Slaven, a spokesman for the Nato-led peacekeepers in the province.

The offices, located in the provincial capital Pristina and Djakovica, a town 56 miles to the west, were raided on December 14 as part of an operation that also included raids by US federal agents in the offices of the organization in Chicago.

The US Treasury Department froze the group's assets, saying the charity was suspected of funding terrorists.

Nato in December said the organization was "suspected of supporting worldwide terrorist activities and is allegedly involved in planning attacks against targets in the USA and Europe."

The foundation has strongly denied the allegation and is suing the US government, seeking access to its assets.

The organization raises about £3.5m a year for programs in mainly Muslim countries around the world.