National Security

Syrian rebels issue demands for captive UN troops

By RYAN LUCASNICK PERRY
Published September 2, 2014 12:14pm ET
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Syrian rebels issue demands for captive UN troops
Philippine Armed Forces Chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang gestures as he talks about "the greatest escape" of Philippine troops deployed as UN Peacekeepers in the Golan Heights while being besieged by a rebel faction in Syria, during a forum with foreign correspondents Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2014 at suburban Mandaluyong city, east of Manila, Philippines. Catapang said that a U.N. peacekeeping commander in the Golan Heights should be investigated for allegedly asking Filipino troops to surrender to Syrian rebels who had attacked and surrounded their camp. Catapang further said he advised the 40 Filipino peacekeepers not to lay down their arms, and they defied the U.N. peacekeeping commander's order. Instead, they staged a daring escape from the Golan camp over the weekend, ending a tense, dayslong standoff.(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez) | Bullit Marquez

BEIRUT (AP) — Al-Qaida-linked Syrian rebels holding 45 Fijian peacekeepers hostage have issued a set of demands for their release, including the extremist group’s removal from a U.N. terrorist list and compensation for the killing of three of its fighters in a shootout with international troops, an official said Tuesday.

The Nusra Front seized the Fijians on Thursday in the Golan Heights, where a 1,200-strong U.N. force monitors the buffer zone between Syria and Israel. The rebels also surrounded two Filipino units, but those U.N. troops escaped over the weekend.

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Syria United Nations World