Haitian authorities questioned a group of 10 American missionaries who are accused of illegally trying to take children out of the quake-shattered Caribbean country.

A prosecutor met with the Americans at police headquarters in Port-au-Prince, where they have been held since they were arrested late on Friday trying to cross into the Dominican Republic with a busload of 33 children they said were orphaned by the devastating earthquake.

The Baptist missionaries deny Haitian charges they were engaged in child trafficking and insist they were only trying to help vulnerable orphans left destitute by the quake.

The case could be diplomatically sensitive at a time when the US is spearheading a huge relief effort to help hundreds of thousands of Haitian quake victims, and as US aid groups pour millions of dollars of donations into Haiti.

The US military last Monday resumed medical evacuation flights of critically injured earthquake victims to the US, ending a five-day suspension caused by a dispute over where to treat patients and who would pay for their care. The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and two other US ships were leaving Haiti after completing their relief missions. Several other US warships remained offshore to support the operation.

Also last Monday, UN officials said former US President Bill Clinton, the world body's special envoy to Haiti, would be named international coordinator for Haitian relief efforts.

Edmond Mulet, acting head of the UN peacekeeping force in Haiti, told Reuters in an interview it could take Haiti decades to recover, but that the tragedy provided an opportunity for Haitians to rebuild their country "the right way."

Mr Mulet said the world community "should do better" at assisting Haiti's long-term development and that job creation and development programmes were needed to fight endemic poverty.