Monday, March 11, 2013

Foreign Affairs secretary Albert del Rosario Confirms Release of Filipino Soldiers

Foreign Affairs secretary Albert del Rosario on Sunday confirmed the release of 21 Filipino United Nations peacekeepers from their Syrian captors after three days in captivity.

Citing a report from Philippine Permanent Representative to the U.N. Libran Cabactulan, Del Rosario said UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon has advised that "the 21 Filipino peacekeepers have now been separated from the Syrian rebel group in Jordan."

"He said that the problem had been solved," Del Rosario said in a text message.

The Filipinos, who are members of a U.N. peacekeeping mission monitoring the armistice line in Golan Heights between Syria and Israel following the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, were seized by Syrian gunmen on March 6 in Al-Jamla.

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