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UN peacekeepers seized in Syria arrive safe in Amman

 
Published on Mar 10, 2013
6:14 AM
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Filipino UN peacekeepers, part of a group of 21 peacekeepers held by rebels for three days in southern Syria, wait to address a news conference at the headquarters of the General Command of the Jordanian Army in Amman March 9, 2013. The twenty-one United Nations peacekeepers crossed into Jordan on Saturday, after an ordeal which highlighted how Syria's civil war is ratcheting up tensions on its volatile borders. The Filipino peacekeepers - part of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) that has been monitoring a ceasefire line between Syria and Israel in the Golan Heights since 1974 - were seized by the Martyrs of Yarmouk rebel brigade on Wednesday. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

AMMAN (AFP) - 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.

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