AFP: 21 Filipino peacekeepers likely to finish their tours

MANILA, March 18 (PNA) - The 21 Filipino peacekeepers, earlier captured and released by Syrian rebels while conducting a logistics run at the Golan Heights this month, are likely to finish their tour of duty after successfully passing their debriefing, physical and medical examinations Sunday.

“All indications point to our peacekeepers returning to their posts and finishing their respective tour of duty,” AFP spokesperson Col. Arnulfo M. Burgos, Jr., said.

The 21 Filipino military men were subjected to tests to determine their psychological, physical, and mental dispositions after being held for four days by Syrian rebels.

The soldiers, part of a 300-strong Philippine peacekeeping force in the Golan Heights, were captured by rebels while on a logistics run on March 6.

They were later released on March 10.

The Philippines has been maintaining a peacekeeping force in the Golan Heights since the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) implemented the 1974 UN Security Council resolution 350.

Burgos said the peacekeepers passed the first set of debriefing that began March 14.

The debriefing sessions, as well as the physical and medical examinations, were conducted at the UNDOF headquarters in Camp Faouar, Syrian Golan.

The AFP spokesperson said each soldier would have different months for completion of their respective tours of duty.

He added some of them were deployed to the Golan Heights before and after November last year.

“So some of them would finish their tour of duty by June, some by August.”

Burgos said, however, that all of the 21 would have completed their tour of duty by September. 
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Philippine News Agency | March 18, 2013 | Article Link

Filipino UN peacekeepers seized in Syria arrive safe in Amman

The United Nations welcomed the release on Saturday of 21 Filipino peacekeepers, who had been seized by Syrian rebels on the Golan Heights, as they crossed to freedom in Jordan after a three-day ordeal.

Philippine authorities also expressed relief at the release of the members of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).

A Jordanian military official said the peacekeepers were greeted by border guards as they crossed from Syria in the afternoon and "underwent medical examinations."

They then boarded an army bus and were given a military escort to the east Amman headquarters of the armed forces where they were "handed over to the UN representative in Jordan, Costanza Farina, in the presence of the Philippines ambassador," the official added in a statement.

An AFP correspondent said the peacekeepers were also greeted by Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, government spokesman Samih Maaytah and Chief of Staff Mashaal al-Zebn.

The peacekeepers are members of the UNDOF monitoring the armistice line between Syria and Israel that followed the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

A video footage reportedly released by rebels who handed over the peacekeepers and posted by SITE Monitoring Service shows the soldiers in blue UN helmets and vests shaking hands with insurgents as they cross a small stream to Jordan.

The footage shows a man describing the event as a cameraman films the peacekeepers who are seen standing by a truck.

"The UN observers are now in Jordanian territory. They were taken to the Jordan border and given to Jordanian authorities...," the man is heard saying.

The Filipinos were seized by rebels Wednesday near the armistice line in the first abduction of its kind since the the start of an uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad two years ago.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon "appreciates the efforts of all concerned to secure their safe release," his office in New York said after the Filipinos crossed over from Syria.

"The secretary general emphasizes to all parties the impartiality of United Nations peacekeepers," it added.

The Philippine military spokesman told AFP no decision had been taken about where the peacekeepers would go next but that Manila's envoy to Amman "will be directly coordinating with the Jordanian authorities for their turnover to us."

"The Filipino UN peacekeeping contingent's (to the Golan Heights) commander, Colonel Cirilito Sobejana, is now on his way to Jordan to meet his men," said Manila Colonel Arnulfo Burgos.

Ambassador Olivia V Palala told AFP all the men were "safe and sound" and that future plans for them would be made in coordination with the United Nations.

Judeh said he spoke to Ban by telephone "to reassure him about the safety of the peacekeepers," adding that "Jordan will provide them with all the assistance they need."

The peacekeepers were abducted by rebels from the Yarmuk Martyrs Brigade in Jamla village just a mile to the Syrian side of the armistice line.

The rebels had made conditions for their release, namely that Syrian troops move 20 kilometres (12 miles) back from Jamla.

They also demanded that the International Committee of the Red Cross "guarantees the safe exit from the strife-torn area of Jamla of civilians," said the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman.

On Friday a UN attempt to pick up the peacekeepers was aborted when Syrian troops shelled the area.

Syria denied the shelling and the foreign ministry sent letters to Ban and the UN Security Council on Saturday "condemning attacks by terrorist groups against UN forces and residents" near the armistice line, state news agency SANA said.

It also called on the UN to "clearly condemn terrorist groups" -- the term used by the regime to describe the rebels, the official Syrian news agency added.

The abduction was condemned by world powers and triggered a flurry of diplomatic action to secure the peacekeepers' release.

It also sparked fears that more governments would withdraw their contingents from the already depleted UN mission.

Israel warned that any further reduction in UNDOF strength risked creating a security vacuum in the no-man's land between the two sides on the strategic Golan plateau, which it seized in the 1967 Six-Day War.

Meanwhile on Saturday, Syrian troops bombarded several rebel-held areas near Damascus, where 10 people, including three children, were killed in clashes between troops and rebels, the Observatory said.

At least 49 people were killed across Syria on Saturday, the Observatory added.

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Musa Hattar | AFP News | March 10, 2013 | Article Link

Kidnapped peacekeepers to be freed in coming hours

Rebel commander tells BBC abduction of 21 Filipino soldiers near border with Golan was a mistake

The 21 UN peacekeepers from the Philippines who were kidnapped by Syrian rebels Wednesday will be released on Thursday, a high-ranking rebel commander said.

The commander told BBC Arabic that the abduction of the peacekeepers was a mistake and that they would be freed in the coming hours.

Video emerged Thursday afternoon showing the peacekeepers saying that they were being treated well.

One video shows three men are dressed in camouflage and blue bullet-proof vests emblazoned with the UN and “Philippines.”

One of the men says in English says they “are safe and the Free Syrian Army are treating us good.”

The other video shows six peacekeepers sitting in a room, and one of them says they are safe.

The Philippine government said earlier Thursday that talks were under way for the release of the 21 unarmed peacekeepers, who were kidnapped by Syrian rebels in the Golan Heights in the increasingly volatile zone separating Israeli and Syrian troops.

Foreign Affairs Department spokesman Raul Hernandez said the peacekeepers, who were detained on Wednesday, were unharmed and were being treated as “visitors and guests.”

Hernandez told reporters in Manila that the UN force commander in the area was negotiating with the leader of the rebel group, whose demands concerned the positioning of Syrian government forces in the area. He said there was no deadline for the negotiations.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said earlier Thursday that the UN force commander told him to expect the peacekeepers to be released within 24 hours, with negotiations progressing well. The UN Security Council demanded their immediate and unconditional release.

The country’s president, Benigno Aquino III, said earlier that he was told to expect the peacekeepers to be released within 24 hours, with negotiations progressing. Hernandez said the rebel group’s demands concerned the positioning of Syrian government forces in the area, and that there was no deadline for the negotiations.

The peacekeepers were kidnapped Wednesday by a group of Syrian rebels near the Golan Heights town of Jamla.

“They were in a military convoy doing their run. They were suddenly held at one Syrian rebel outpost. They were allowed to go through the first outpost but were stopped at the second outpost,” said Philippine military spokesman Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos.

A video clip released by the rebels shows a number of gunmen standing alongside the UN vehicles, while their apparent leader announced his demands. Some of the United Nations employees can be seen inside the vehicles.

In a second video, the same rebel spokesman is seen accusing the UN, the Assad regime and Europe of “collaborating with Israel.”

“The Free Syrian army will remain here until we banish Bashar and his oppression,” one rebel is seen saying.

The video accuses the peacekeepers of assisting the Syrian regime to redeploy in an area near the Golan that the fighters seized a few days ago in battles that left 11 fighters and 19 regime forces dead.

A man identified as Abu Qaed al-Faleh, spokesman for the Martyrs of Yarmouk Brigades, announced the group is holding the peacekeepers until Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces withdraw from Jamla.

The UN Security Council strongly condemned the kidnapping and demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the peacekeepers.

Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, the council president, told reporters that armed groups had been threatening the unarmed peacekeepers. He said talks were under way between UN officials and the captors.

Churkin said the capture of the peacekeepers “is particularly unacceptable and bizarre (because) UNDOF are unarmed and they have nothing to do with the situation in Syria.”

“They are there on a completely different mission so there is no reason at all under any circumstances, any kind of sick imagination to try to harm those people,” he said.

Churkin urged countries with influence on the Syrian opposition to use it to help free the peacekeepers. He did not name any countries but Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are known to have been providing military aid to some Syrian rebel groups.

UN deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey said the UN observers were on a regular supply mission when they were stopped near an observation post and detained by some 30 gunmen.

Croatia announced last week that it would withdraw some 100 peacekeeping troops from the Syria-Israel border due to fears in the Croatian government that its troops could become targets for Syrian government soldiers.

Last month, UN staffer Carl Campeau went missing in the Syrian Golan Heights, sources familiar with the case told The Times of Israel.

Campeau, a Canadian legal adviser, was stationed at the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force base on the Syrian side of the demilitarized zone. Attempts by The Times of Israel to contact Campeau on his cellphone and at his office were unsuccessful.

Last week, The Times of Israel quoted a rebel activist reporting that Assad’s army had fled the Golan Heights area bordering Israel, and that rebel forces were in control there.

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Times of Israel/AP | March 7, 2013 | Article Link

Syria rebels seize Filipino UN peacekeepers in Golan Heights

1st Philippine Peacekeeping Contingent to the Golan Heights.
(file/Elmer Cato/DFA)

UNITED NATIONS -- (UPDATE 2 - 11:18 a.m.) Syrian rebels on Wednesday abducted more than 20 Filipino UN peacekeepers in the Golan Heights ceasefire zone pushing back the frontier of their war with President Bashar al-Assad.

The United Nations said it is trying to negotiate the release of the soldiers. But a spokesman for the rebels said in a video that the UN troops would be held until Assad's forces pull back from a village in the Golan.

In Manila, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Colonel Arnulfo Burgos Jr. confirmed the abduction and said the captive soldiers, whow ere seized Wednesday night, Philippines time, are "all well."

He said the seized troops, who include officers, are among the 300-strong contingent sent by the AFP November last year.

About 30 armed fighters stopped a UN Disengagement Force (UNDOF) convoy in the ceasefire zone, where the UN has had peacekeepers monitoring a ceasefire between Syria and Israel since 1974, UN deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey told reporters.

"The UN observers were on a regular supply mission and were stopped near Observation Post 58, which had sustained damage and was evacuated this past weekend following heavy combat in close proximity, at Al Jamlah," he added.

There has been fierce fighting around Jamlah village, which is held by opposition forces.

The UN Security Council released a statement which said "armed elements of the Syrian opposition" had abducted the group of more than 20 peacekeepers and demanded their "unconditional and immediate" release.

"Negotiations are going on and the matter is mobilizing all our teams," UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous told reporters after briefing the Security Council on the abduction. "It is a very serious incident."

Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who read the Security Council statement, said the rebels have made demands directed at the Syrian government but did not give details. "We hope they are going be released immediately," Churkin told reporters.

Syrian rebels are also believed to be holding an UNDOF staffer who was seized last month. The staffer is from Canada, according to diplomats.

UN diplomats and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman said the peacekeepers were from the Philippines.

Rahman released two videos in which a rebel group, the Yarmuk Martyrs Brigade, set out their demands for the release of the peacekeepers.

In one, a man identified as Abu Kaid al-Faleh, a spokesman for the brigade, said the peacekeepers would not be freed until Syrian government forces pull back from the area.

"We call on them to withdraw all their troops to their bases. If they do not withdraw, these men (UN troops) will be treated as prisoners," he said.

In a second video, the same spokesman accused the UNDOF of working with the army to try to suppress the insurgency and help regime forces enter Jamlah.

"The Syrian regime, the UN and the European countries are all collaborators with Israel," he said.

The United Nations has reported a growing number of incidents in the Golan zone over the past year. It has already reinforced security for the peacekeepers by sending extra armored vehicles and communications equipment.

Shells from the Syrian side have landed in the ceasefire zone and on Israeli territory. Syrian government tanks have entered the zone several times, according to the UN.

Up to the end of February there were about 1,000 troops from Austria, Croatia, India and the Philippines operating in the ceasefire force.

But Croatia announced last week that it is withdrawing its 100 troops from UNDOF. The Croatian government said it feared for the soldiers' safety after reports that Saudi Arabia had bought arms from Croatia and then provided them to the Syrian rebels.

Canada and Japan have also withdrawn their small contingents in recent months because of security fears.

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Agence France-Presse | March 7, 2013 | Article Link

AFP Honors 4th PHL Contingent to Golan Heights

Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City—The Armed Forces of the Philippines received the 333-strong Philippine Contingent to Golan Heights after nine months of deployment in the contested territory. This is in line with the AFP’s commitment to the United Nations’ peacekeeping efforts to maintain international peace and stability in the area.

The 4th contingent, which was the first ever to be sent with an entire battalion as its core, was given their United Nations Service Medals for the accomplishment of their mission. The welcome and awarding ceremony was held today at the Canopy Area of the General Headquarters.

In a statement, the 4th contingent, led by 76th Infantry Battalion Commanding Officer, Col. Cornelio H. Valencia, said that their deployment coincided with the Arab Spring that affected the United Nations Disengagement Force’s (UNDOF) Area of Limitation and Area of Separation due to a series of protests.

Protests on events like Nakba Day, which means “Day of the Catastrophe,” and ironically is the Arab commemoration of the creation of Israel; and Naksa Day that means “Day of the Setback,” which is the Arab commemoration of the Six Days War, also prompted the contingent to adopt an enhanced patrolling system and clear critical areas from landmine threats.

The AFP has been sending contingents to Golan Heights since November 2009 as part of the UNDOF, replacing Poland in forming the more than 1,000 peacekeeping units of the United Nations.

The 4th Contingent to Golan Heights was composed of 49 officers and 278 enlisted personnel. 30 are women including some officers. There are also a total of eight soldiers who were part of the 3rd Contingent who had extended deployments.

In May last year, the AFP sent the 4th CGH with a whole battalion that forms the core of the contingent. The AFP sent the 76th Infantry Battalion that cleared the Southern part of Quezon of New People’s Army Guerilla Front 42, which was supplemented with additional officers and personnel to comply with the UN Troop Organization and Equipment requirements.

AFP Chief of Staff LtGen Jessie D Dellosa congratulated the contingent for its successful deployment and unceasing commitment to promote peace. “The entire military organization is proud of its soldiers who willingly extend the scope of their service in order to help those who need to maintain peace and security abroad,” said LtGen Dellosa.

“With their dedication to their engagement in very dangerous situations in Golan Heights, our troops still managed to give exemplary contribution to peace, order and security in the area,” LtGen Dellosa added.

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Created on Thursday, 01 March 2012 13:51

Published on Thursday, 01 March 2012 13:51

Written by PAO, AFP

Armed Forces of the Philippines

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