The three Germans, one French and one Irish activist were immediately freed from a Quito jail, where they had been held since last week.

Provincial authorities ordered last week the deportation of 14 foreign environmental activists for damage allegedly caused by the protests. Nine activists left Ecuador this weekend. The rest were freed this week, but still face deportation.

Ecuador's government is counting on the new pipeline to boost oil transport capacity to 850,000 barrels a day, from a current 400,000 bpd, flooding government coffers with fresh revenues needed to boost the economy.

Environmentalists have camped out in the woods near Mindo protected forest and bird habitat, some 16 miles (25 km) outside Quito, for several weeks to protest the route for the new heavy crude pipeline set for completion next year.

Mindo is home to nearly 450 bird species, making it one of the most important bird areas in South America, and is popular with eco-tourists.

Construction firm Techint, part of consortium OCP Ecuador SA building the pipeline, has said that activists' protests have hampered construction.

OCP is made up of Alberta Energy Co. Ltd., Agip Petroleum, Kerr-McGee, Occidental Petroleum Corp., Spain's Repsol-YPF and Argentina's Perez Companc and Techint.