LIPHOOK cleric Canon Andrew White has been exonerated after being the subject of a lengthy counterterrorism investigation by Scotland Yard over claims he had paid ISIS to secure the release of sex slaves.

Dubbed the ‘Vicar of Baghdad’, 54-year-old Canon White, who was priest of St George’s Church in the Iraqi capital until 2014, was told the investigation had been dropped by the Metropolitan Police and no further action would be taken.

He was suspended from his position as president of his own charity – the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East (FRRME) – after the Charity Commission started an investigation on June 9, 2016.

In a statement Canon White said this week: “I have been under police investigation in response to a serious incident report submitted by FRRME to the Charity Commission indicating I had paid money to ISIS terrorists in order to redeem sex slaves.

“This information was not true and finally, this month the case was officially dropped and I have been cleared from any further police investigation.

“I was suspended from my position at FRRME in 2016 and encouraged to go through a series of medical and psychological tests, which resulted in my being asked to resign from the very foundation that I had given my life to build, and I did so.

“Meanwhile, despite a significant decrease in sponsorship, my school and clinic in Jordan for Iraqi Christian refugees, my financial and spiritual support of Iraqi refugee families and my engagement in relief work all carried on as normal.

“We continued to serve thousands of people and despite my no longer being salaried and having lost contact with many former supporters, our work continued to expan.”

Canon White added: “Despite the devastating effects of ISIS on my congregation and the continued suffering of the Iraqi community, I remain positive and excited as we develop further aspects of our ministry and follow God’s leading into new nations.

“My Middle Eastern director Hanna Ishaq has remained fully committed to my work, enabling me to sustain all of our work in Israel and Jordan, and we have been able to develop a new UK team who have established an associated charity with new trustees, which is fully registered with the Charity Commission.

“This charity is called Jerusalem MERIT (Middle East Reconciliation International). While my ministry focus remains mainly in the Middle East, I am now working on reconciliation issues in other countries as far away as New Zealand and the ministry is looking at radically expanding its work both in the political and religious spectrums.

“A major part of my work continues to be in Jewish-Christian relations, in particular, relationships with the Orthodox Hasidic Jewish community and I continue to work closely with the various Islamic communities as well as the historic Samaritan Community while developing further initiatives and opening new dialogues in these areas.”

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey came out in support of the cleric, saying: “It was during my time as Archbishop of Canterbury I encountered Canon Andrew White when he was director of the esteemed Coventry Cathedral Centre for Reconciliation.

“For a time, I chaired the board of FRRME of which he was president.

“I regard Andrew not only as a friend, but as one of the most dedicated and pioneering figures in the Middle East today.

“His inspiring commitment to the very poor and marginalised of all faiths is well-known and unequalled anywhere. I continue to be a supporter of his work and am delighted that, now fully exonerated by the authorities, his extraordinary work will continue undiminished.”

Another supporter is Jerusalem Rabbi Michael Melchior, who said: “As president of Mosaica, the Middle East Religious Peace Initiative, I have had the honour of working closely with Canon Andrew White for more than 20 years, also during periods when I served as a cabinet minister and deputy foreign minister in different Israeli Governments.

“Throughout this whole period, I have seen how Andrew has totally devoted his life to what I believe is the true mission of religion: to assist, comfort and virtually save lives of human beings in the most difficult places in the world today, human beings who everybody else have abandoned.

“From the front line of this work, which is the essence of dignity of our humanity, you necessarily come into situations where in order to save lives you must act under very difficult circumstances.

“Under one of these circumstances, Andrew came under investigation by the UK police. Knowing the facts on the ground, I had no doubt whatsoever that nothing would come out of this case.

“I am indeed delighted it is now confirmed by the police and that he received a phone call from them apologising for the situation.”

MERIT’s Middle Eastern director Hanna Ishaq raised concerns over the vicar’s declining health by stating, “this whole case has had an adverse effect on the health of Canon White and on that of his wife Caroline, as well as on the refugee community who are in desperate need of support”.

Canon White’s autobiography My Journey So Far was awarded Book of the Year by Christian Resources Together in September 2016.

Since his ordination in 1990 he has played a major role in the work of reconciliation, both between Christian and Jew as well as Shi’ite and Sunni Muslims.