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Negotiations Underway to Free Fijian Peacekeepers Held by Syria Armed Groups

Negotiations Underway to Free Fijian Peacekeepers Held by Syria Armed Groups
folder_openMiddle East... access_time9 years ago
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Local Editor

Talks were underway Friday to release 43 Fijian peacekeepers taken hostage by Syrian armed groups in the Golan Heights, the Pacific nation's Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said.

Negotiations Underway to Free Fijian Peacekeepers Held by Syria Armed GroupsBainimarama said the peacekeepers were believed to be safe and his government was working closely with the United Nations to secure their release.

"The latest information we have is that they are safe and I can say now that the negotiations for their release have already begun," he said in a statement.

In parallel, he mentioned: "I want to assure the families of the soldiers we are doing everything possible to secure their safe return."
Bainimarama said Fiji was "united as a nation in praying for their safe return."

"These men are peacekeepers, not combatants in the Syrian conflict, and there is no need for them to be detained," he said.
The Fijians, who were on duty in a UN-patrolled zone, were taken hostage by about 150 Syrian rebels Thursday.
About 75 Philippine peacekeepers who refused to surrender were involved in a tense standoff with armed groups in the same area, Philippine officials said.

This comes as dozens of heavily armed Philippine peacekeepers defied Syrian rebels on Friday in a Golan Heights standoff, hours after the fighters took hostage 43 Fijian soldiers there, the Filipinos' commander said.

Seventy-five Filipino troops were defending two fortified posts in the UN-patrolled zone after armed groups surrounded them on Thursday and demanded they give up their weapons, Colonel Roberto Ancan told reporters in Manila.

Ancan, the commander of the Philippines' peacekeeping operations division, said no shots had been fired during the stand-off, but that his troops were prepared to engage in combat.

"We can use deadly force in defense of the UN facilities," Ancan said.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

 

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