BRUSSELS: Belgian authorities said on Monday that they had briefly held and questioned two Israeli citizens who attended an electronic music festival, after pro-Palestinian groups accused them of war crimes.

Prosecutors said they received legal complaints alleging that two Israeli soldiers responsible for `serious violations of international humanitarian law` in Gaza were spotted at the Tomorrowland festival near the northern city of Antwerp last week.

The federal prosecutor`s office said it had `asked the police to locate the two people named in the complaint and to interview them`.

`Following these interviews, they were released,` it said in a statement.

The office said that it took action after concluding that Belgian courts have extraterritorial jurisdiction over alleged war crimes.

`No further information will be given at this stage of the investigation,` the office said. The pair have not been named.

Last week, the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF),a Belgian pro-Palestinian organisation, said it had identified two Israeli soldiers `responsible for grave international crimes` in Gaza among the crowds at Tomorrowland.

It claimed that a group of young Israeli men was seen at the festival waving a flag of the Givati Brigade, an Israeli military unit involved in the fighting in the Palestinian territory.

HRF said it then filed a complaint with prosecutors in association with the Global Legal Action Network, a lawyers group specialising in human rights violations.

On Monday it praised prosecutors for following up on it.

`At a time when far too many governments remain silent, this action sends a clear message: credible evidence of international crimes must be met with legal response not political indifference,` HRF said in a statement.

One of the world`s largest electronic music festivals, Tomorrowland draws music enthusiasts from all over the world. About 400,000 people are expected to attend the event this year over two weekends.-AFP