UN still negotiating release of peacekeepers

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations said Thursday it is still trying to negotiate the release of 21 peacekeepers abducted by a Syrian rebel group but that it had spoken with the Filipino soldiers who are "not harmed".

"The mission has been in touch with the peacekeepers by telephone and confirmed they have not been harmed," UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters. "The United Nations is working to secure the release of the peacekeepers."

A UN official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) mission was "negotiating with the armed group and the Syrian authorities" to obtain a release.

The 21 unarmed Filipino troops from UNDOF were abducted on Wednesday by Syrian rebels who had at first demanded that government forces pull back from a village in the Golan Heights ceasefire zone.

UNDOF has been in the Golan Heights since 1974 monitoring a ceasefire between Syria and Israel. The Syrian civil war has spilled over into the zone in recent months. (AFP)