The president of a charity that operates in the Middle East has been suspended over comments he made about the charity and its funding of “former slave girls taken by ISIS”.

In response to the now deleted comments, the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East (FRRME) has suspended Canon Andrew White with pay from his role as president of the charity. The Charity Commission has also launched a statutory inquiry into the charity.

In a statement on its website, the FRRME said: “Rev. Canon Andrew White has been suspended with pay by the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East pending the findings of a Charity Commission Statutory Enquiry.

“The Foundation is cooperating fully with the appropriate authorities. It would be inappropriate to comment further on an active investigation other than to say that the Foundation believe at this stage that the alleged incident stemmed from a genuine desire by Canon White to help others.”

The comments, made by White on his Facebook page, have since been deleted. Acccording to Christian Today, White said in a subsequent comment, which also seems to be now deleted that his suspension was “in response to some inaccurate statements I made about our work with and funding for the former slave girls taken by ISIS".

The Charity Commission opened an investigation into the charity on 9 June. In a statement it said it cannot comment further on the investigation while it is live.

According to the Charity Commission’s website, FRRME had an income of £3m in the year ending 2 July 2015, while spending was £1.8m. The charity’s annual accounts state that the aim of the charity is to support the “unique work of Dr Canon Andrew White”.

It says that the charity “promotes conflict resolution and reconciliation in the Middle East but primarily in Iraq, specialising in conflicts where there is a religious component to the violence. It also provides humanitarian relief and economic rejuvenation in areas where conflict has caused poverty and hardship.”