Hundreds of Sunni families also left the town, many going to neighboring Lebanon, said international aid workers in Lebanon.

WSJ: Syrian Forces Push to Retake Rebel Stronghold

He said that international aid workers often suspected foreign militants of being terrorists while other Muslims often suspected the aid workers of being spies.

BBC: UN threat to Afghan operations

But economic reconstruction is hardly possible if local business people, foreign investors and international aid workers do not feel secure in their persons and property.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Post-War Planning

Some 10, 000 Kosovars have crossed into Macedonia since that time, and more are expected, causing international aid workers to sound the alarm about the rising risk of disease in the overcrowded camps.

CNN: refugees

Are there international aid workers?

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At a pace which astonishes international relief workers, especially those who know aid-addicted Bosnia, they are ordering timber from Montenegro, glass from Bulgaria and bricks from Serbia.

ECONOMIST: The market-minded Kosovars

As well as the eight Westerners, 16 Afghan aid workers working for the same organization -- Shelter Now International, based in Germany -- have also been arrested and charged with the same crime.

CNN: Diplomats meet Taliban over aid workers' trial