(Xinhua) -- Ethiopia has released three Swedish citizens detained for several months on suspicion of terrorism, Swedish news agency TT reported on Saturday. "They were released yesterday. They arrived in Sweden today at midday," press officer Cecilia Julin of Sweden's Ministry for Foreign Affairs said on Saturday. The three Swedish citizens were taken prisoner at the beginning of the year. A fourth prisoner, a pregnant 17-year-old, was released in March.
| The group were arrested in Kenya, having fled Somalia after the invasion by Ethiopian troops which brought about an Islamist retreat. The prisoners were accused of fighting on the side of the Islamist militia against Somali government forces and their Ethiopian allies. |
Earlier in the month, Sweden had demanded the immediate release of the three. The Foreign Ministry summoned Ethiopia's ambassador in order to hand over a formal protest. "I have no information about the details of the release. All along, we've demanded that they [the Ethiopian authorities] either give us an explanation of the legal grounds for the arrests or letthem go free," said Cecilia Julin.