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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| U.N. Team Fails to Pick Up Held Peacekeepers from Jamla as Area Bombed |
| 2013-03-09 |
| [An Nahar] A U.N. convoy attempting to pick up 21 Filipino peacekeepers that their Syrian rebel captors had agreed to free was forced back by a barrage of army shelling on Friday, a watchdog said. In New York the United Nations ...When talk is your weapon it's hard to make yourself heard over the artillery... said efforts to secure the peacekeepers would resume on Saturday. "Arrangements were made with all parties for the release of the 21 peacekeepers," said U.N. peacekeeping spokeswoman Josephine Guerrero, "but due to the late hour and the darkness it was considered unsafe to continue the operation. Efforts will continue tomorrow." U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said the village where the soldiers are being held came under intense shelling. That was denied by Syrian U.N. Ambassador Bashar Jaafari, who said everything was being done to get them out safely. Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said a U.N. convoy entered the village of Jamla to collect the peacekeepers but the army shelled the area. "When the U.N. vehicles entered into Jamla, the Syrian army shelled a nearby village. The U.N. cars then withdrew from Jamla," said Abdel Rahman. Ladsous and expressed hope that a possible ceasefire would lead to the freeing of the peacekeepers, who have been held by Syrian rebels since Wednesday. "That village is subject to intense shelling by the Syrian armed forces," he said. "There is perhaps a hope, but it is not done yet... that a ceasefire of a few hours can intervene which would allow for our people to be released." |
| Posted by:Fred |