Philippines demands Syrian rebels release troops

The Philippines on Thursday strongly condemned the hostage-taking of 21 Filipino UN peacekeepers by Syrian rebels in the Golan Heights ceasefire zone and demanded their immediate release. The soldiers, part of a 300-strong Filipino peacekeeping unit, were detained at a rebel observation point on Wednesday by gunmen who said the troops would be held until Syrian regime forces pulled back from a Golan village. "The Philippine government strongly condemns the illegal detention of 21 Filipino peacekeepers under the United Nations command in the Golan Heights," Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said in a statement. Del Rosario said their detention was a gross violation of international law, pointing out they were operating under the UN flag, and called for the hostages to be immediately released. Philippine President Benigno Aquino expressed optimism the 21 would be released quickly. "I understand they are being treated well... so far, nobody has been saying that they are in danger," he told reporters. Aquino said UN peacekeeping leaders in the Golan were negotiating with the Syrian rebels. "They (UN chiefs) expect all of these 21 to be released," he said. However a rebel spokesman said the troops would be held until forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad pulled back from the village, and also accused the UN peacekeepers of favouring Israel. A UN Disengagement Force has been monitoring a ceasefire between Syria and Israel since 1974. The United Nations has reported a growing number of incidents in the Golan over the past year. It has sent extra armoured vehicles and communications equipment to reinforce security for the mission. 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 it was withdrawing its 100 troops from UNDOF because it feared for the soldiers' safety. Canada and Japan have also withdrawn their small contingents in recent months because of security fears. Aquino said no decision had been made on whether to pull the rest of the Filipino peacekeeping unit out of the Golan Heights.