| Submit your comments on this article |
| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| UN peacekeepers seized in Syria arrive safe in Jordan |
| 2013-03-09 |
| Twenty-one Filipino UN peacekeepers seized by Syrian rebels on the Golan Heights arrived in Jordan on Saturday, hours after their captors released them from an ordeal of more than three days. "They arrived in Jordan; they are on Jordanian land now," Jordanian government spokesman Samih Maaytah told AFP. The United Nations and the Philippines government also confirmed that the 21 members of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), had crossed safely into Jordan from Syria where rebels battling the Syrian regime seized them on Wednesday. "We can confirm that the peacekeepers have been released," UN peacekeeping spokeswoman Josephine Guerrero said in New York. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the release but said all sides in the Syrian conflict must respect the "impartiality" of UNDOF which monitors a ceasefire line between Syria and Israel in the strategic Golan plateau. Ban "appreciates the efforts of all concerned to secure their safe release," said a statement released by his press office after the Filipinos crossed from Syria into Jordan. "The secretary general emphasizes to all parties the impartiality of United Nations peacekeepers," it added. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #1 So, which side of the Golan Heights border were they on? Syrian or Israeli? UN "peacekeepers" in Syria doesn't sound too bright considering the conditions at this time. |
| Posted by: tipover 2013-03-09 15:25 |