AFP: Negotiations for release of four Pinoy peacekeepers in Golan progressing well

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Friday said the negotiations for the release of the four Filipino United Nations peacekeepers abducted by Syrian rebels on Tuesday are progressing well. AFP spokesman Brig. Gen. Domingo Tutaan said, “We have hopes that they will be released eventually. We are hoping that they will be released immediately or as soon as possible.” “We are hopeful that this would be resolved immediately,” he added. Tutaan explained that the negotiations are led by the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), the UN agency that the abducted Filipino peacekeepers are working for. He said the UNDOF is in "continuous talks" with the abductors of the four soldiers. “So far, what we believe is they are okay where they are right now. But again, we will finally know when we are able to get them back or when they are released,” Tutaan said. Withdrawal of troops Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said on Friday that he has recommended to President Benigno S. Aquino III to withdraw more than 300 Filipino peacekeepers from the Golan Heights as soon as possible following the second kidnapping of Philippine troops in the volatile region by rebels. “We have served with dedication in that area but because of the changed circumstances...our recommendation would encompass an early pull out of our people there because we believe that exposure now is beyond tolerable limits,” Del Rosario told a forum hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (Focap). Del Rosario’s pronouncement came after a second group of Filipinos, who are part of the U.N. mission monitoring the armistice line in Golan Heights between Syria and Israel following the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, were seized by rebels, who called themselves “Yarmuk Martyrs Brigade,” on March 7 in Al-Jamla. Manila called for the "immediate and safe release" of the four Filipinos, who were among the 343 Philippine military and police contingent serving in the Golan Heights for the last three years. This is the second time that Filipino peacekeepers were taken as hostages this year. Last March, 21 Filipino peacekeepers were abducted by Syrian rebels and were freed after four days. Del Rosario called the abduction of the peacekeepers a “violation of international law.” “We don’t want to expose our people any further anymore than we need to,” he said. “If you look at the situation there the people who abducted the peacekeepers were actually under siege and they are using our people to be able to get out of the situation that they found themselves in. That’s not healthy for us,” Del Rosario added. The Philippines has a total of 742 police, military and jail personnel in eight U.N. peacekeeping operations, namely Haiti, Liberia, South Sudan, Cote d’ Ivoire, the disputed territory of Abyei between Sudan and South Sudan, the India-Pakistan border and Afghanistan. - with a report from Michaela del Callar, VVP, GMA News