The former Vicar of Baghdad, Canon Andrew White, has said that he faces no charges after police concluded an investigation into allegations that he paid money to Daesh – the so-called Islamic State or ISIS – to secure the release of girls held as sex-slaves. Canon White has denied paying money to secure the release of the girls. He had been the founding director of the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East, but resigned after being suspended when British regulators the Charity Commission launched an investigation.

After the Charity Commission began their investigation, London’s Metropolitan Police launched their own criminal investigation, during which Canon White was interviewed in the presence of his solicitor. This week he told The Times newspaper that this investigation is now complete.

“If I was not a person of such profound, simple faith I would feel very angry but I know that anger does not really achieve anything,” Canon White told The Times. “I feel very hurt by it all, but it has not affected my faith. . .

“It is quite amazing. You would think that releasing sex slaves from Isis was a good thing. But [the police] were convinced that I could only have done it by paying for them.”

Canon White said that he had never paid any money to Daesh, had managed to secure the release of six or seven women through connections he had developed with Sunni Muslims while he was in Iraq. He was forced to leave Iraq as Daesh insurgents continued to take territory and now works to support Iraqi refugees in Jordan.