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Manila sets UN conditions for Golan force to stay

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Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario has set out conditions to the United Nations for more than 300 Filipino peacekeepers to stay in the Golan Heights, including additional weapons for their protection and shorter periods of deployment in the volatile buffer region separating Israel from Syria, officials said Sunday.

U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous told Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario in a meeting Friday in New York that the world body will work “with all stakeholders to provide what is needed consistent with the disengagement agreement,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

President Benigno Aquino III’s administration did not immediately say if the U.N. pledge would be enough for it to decide to keep 342 Filipino soldiers in the Golan Heights beyond Aug. 11, when the Philippine contingent was to be replaced by fresh troops. Aquino has sought increased security for the troops, saying they face “an undoable mission” if their security in the increasingly violent buffer zone was not bolstered.

Austria announced recently that it would remove its 377 peacekeepers from the 911-member U.N. peacekeeping force, which includes troops from India, leaving the Philippines as the largest single contributor of armed peacekeepers.

The United Nations and the United States have asked the Philippines to keep its troops in place, warning of “maximum volatility” in the Golan Heights if the Filipinos withdraw after a number of other countries such as Japan and Croatia pulled out their forces amid escalating violence and a series of abductions of peacekeepers.

Del Rosario told Ladsous that the Philippines wanted the U.N. to deploy an agreed peacekeeping force of 1,250 troops and acquire additional protective equipment and weapons for the soldiers by October. Filipino troops should also be allowed to be replaced every six months, shorter than the current deployment, the statement said.

It said that Ladsous understood the Philippines’ position and agreed that more robust defense capabilities were needed for peacekeepers in the Golan Heights.

The U.N. force was established in 1974 to monitor the disengagement of Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights following the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and Syria wants the land returned in exchange for peace.

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UN: Syria, rebels must ensure UN safety in Golan

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The U.N. Security Council called on the Syrian government and rebel fighters Wednesday to ensure the safety and freedom of movement of the U.N. peacekeeping force that has monitored a cease-fire line between Israel and Syria for nearly four decades.

Council members underscored the increased risk the conflict poses to U.N. personnel, highlighted by the recent hostage-taking of 21 peacekeepers by armed opposition elements. There has also been firing directed at U.N. personnel and facilities, and the carjacking of U.N. vehicles.

U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous told reporters after briefing the council Tuesday that in response to these incidents the U.N. force has had to reduce its “footprint” on the Golan Heights, cutting back patrols and adopting a “much more static” role. In addition, the U.N. has increased protection for the force, bringing in more armored cars and personal equipment, he said.

The Security Council welcomed the provision of additional security measures for the peacekeepers and reiterated the need to continue enhancing their safety in response to new threats, including by temporarily allowing their arrival and departure through an alternate route.

The U.N. monitoring mission, known as UNDOF, was set up in 1974, seven years after Israel captured the Golan Heights and a year after it managed to push back Syrian troops trying to recapture the territory in another regional war.

For nearly four decades, the U.N. monitors helped enforce a stable truce between Israel and Syria but in recent months the conflict has spilled into the Golan Heights. Syrian mortars overshooting their target have repeatedly hit the Israeli-controlled Golan and Israeli warplanes struck inside Syria in January.

The council expressed “grave concern” at the presence of the Syrian army and opposition fighters in the area of separation between Israel and Syria, at violations of the disengagement agreement. It expressed “deep concern” at the risk that all military activities in the area of separation pose to the long-held ceasefire and the local population.

Council members called on all parties “to respect UNDOF‘s freedom of movement and the safety and security of its personnel,” while stressing that the primary responsibility for safety and security on the Syrian side rests with the Syrian government.

Ladsous said that two years after the Syrian conflict began, “one must more than ever call for the respect of the neutrality, the safety and the security of U.N. personnel, and this applies to …read more
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Syria: Clashes erupt in area where UN troops held

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Syrian rebels and regime forces clashed Saturday near a village where U.N. peacekeepers are being held hostage, an activist said, complicating efforts to free them.

U.N. officials have said arrangements are in place for the release of the Filipino peacekeepers, but a rescue mission on Friday was aborted because of regime shelling in the area.

A U.N. team was en route to the village Saturday afternoon to retrieve the hostages but stopped several kilometers (miles) away because of the fighting, said a rebel spokesman.

Instead, rebels began escorting the captives to the nearby Syrian-Jordanian border, the spokesman said via Skype, insisting on anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Jordanian Information Minister Sameeh Maaytah said he was not aware of plans for the peacekeepers to be handed over to Jordan.

The U.N. force has been monitoring an Israeli-Syrian cease-fire for four decades without incident, and the abduction of the 21 men added another destabilizing twist to Syria‘s civil war.

The Filipino peacekeepers, taken captive on Wednesday, were being held in the basements of several houses in the village of Jamlah, near the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, U.N. officials said.

The peacekeepers were taken by the Martyrs of the Yarmouk Brigades, a rebel group. In the days leading up to the abduction, rebel fighters had overrun several Syrian military checkpoints in the area, and regime forces responded with shelling attacks.

Rebels initially said they would only release the hostages if Syrian forces withdraw from the area, but appear to have dropped the demand.

On Saturday, a spokesman for the group said a U.N. team was heading toward the area where the peacekeepers are being held.

He said a convoy of 12 vehicles — 10 from the U.N. and two from the International Committee of the Red Cross — reached the village of Ein Thakar, a few kilometers (miles) away, and was waiting for a lull in fighting to move ahead.

He said rebel commanders eventually decided that because of security concerns, it was easier to move the peacekeepers to the nearby Jordanian border. By mid-afternoon Saturday, the peaeckeepers had not yet been handed to Jordanian authorities, he said.

The report could not immediately be confirmed.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group, said earlier Saturday that a gunfight had erupted about three kilometers (two miles) south of Jamlah, as rebels tried to seize an army checkpoint.

At the United Nations, peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous, on Friday urged regime forces to refrain from retaliation against the village if the U.N. troops are freed.

“As of now, there is perhaps a hope — but I have to be extremely cautious because it is not done yet — but there is the possibility that a cease-fire of a few hours can intervene which would allow for our people to be released,” he said after briefing the U.N. Security Council.

The rebels have posted several videos showing the hostages, apparently to show they are being treated well.

A video posted Friday and distributed by the U.S. SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant forums, showed three U.N. peacekeepers wearing trademark blue U.N. vests …read more
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UN hopes for cease-fire to free 21 peacekeepers

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The U.N. peacekeeping chief says there is a possibility of a cease-fire that would enable 21 peacekeepers being held captive by Syrian rebels to be released.

Herve Ladsous told reporters after briefing the Security Council on Friday that the peacekeepers are being held in the basements of four or five houses in the village of Jamlah, just a kilometer (less than a mile) from the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, which is subjected to intense shelling by Syrian armed forces.

Ladsous said “there is perhaps a hope, … a possibility” that a cease-fire of a few hours could take place so the peacekeepers, all Filipinos, can be released.

The peacekeepers were captured Wednesday in the increasingly volatile zone separating Israeli and Syrian troops on the Golan Heights.

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France starts talks on UN peacekeepers for Mali

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France says it has raised the possibility of establishing a U.N. peacekeeping operation in Mali with the U.N. Security Council for the first time.

France‘s U.N. Ambassador Gerard Araud told reporters that he started discussions on the issue during closed council consultations on Mali on Wednesday. He said a U.N. force would deploy only when security conditions permit.

“So I think we have to wait several weeks before assessing the security environment and taking the decision of deploying a peacekeeping operation,” he said.

U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said there is widespread international support for replacing the current French military operation, supported by African troops, with a U.N. peacekeeping operation, but this would require approval by the Malian government. Mali has reportedly raised some concerns.

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UN plans to use spy drones over eastern Congo

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The Security Council has approved the use of surveillance drones over eastern Congo to monitor roving militias so it can more effectively deploy U.N. peacekeepers.

A letter released Thursday from the president of the Security Council to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the council members note the robot spy planes will be used “on a case-by-case basis” and will not set a precedent for the U.N.’s general consideration of “legal, financial and technical implications of the use of unmanned aerial systems.”

The letter from Pakistan U.N. Ambassador Masood Khan, who holds the rotating Security Council presidency, was released as a U.N. expert launched a special investigation into drone warfare and targeted killings, which the United States relies on as a front-line weapon in its global war against al-Qaida.

Civilian killings and injuries that result from drone strikes on suspected terrorist cells will be part of the focus of the investigation by British lawyer Ben Emmerson, the U.N. rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights. The U.N. said Emmerson will present his findings to the U.N. General Assembly later this year.

The U.N.’s spy drones over Congo would be unarmed.

Ban proposed in December that the U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo be supplied with “intervention” troops, night-vision equipment, surveillance drones with cameras and enhanced river patrols.

The proposals are aimed at improving the protection of civilians from the threat of armed groups in Congo‘s vast mineral-rich eastern region, which has been engulfed in fighting since the 1994 Rwanda genocide.

The Security Council wants to beef up the U.N. peacekeeping force known as MONUSCO, which has more than 17,700 U.N. peacekeepers and over 1,400 international police, following last year’s takeover of many villages and towns in eastern Congo by M23 rebels who briefly held Goma before withdrawing in early December.

U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous had previously faced opposition from neighboring Rwanda, which is believed to be backing the M23, especially on the possible deployment of unarmed drones. Diplomats said Russia was among the other countries raising concerns about the use of drones.

The Rwandan government denies any support for the M23, which is made up of hundreds of soldiers who deserted the Congolese army in April, mainly from the Tutsi ethnic group that was targeted for extermination by Hutu militias during the Rwanda genocide. Since withdrawing from Goma, M23 has taken steps toward negotiating with the Congolese government.

Diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because the consultations were closed, said France, Britain, the U.S. and other Western countries back the deployment of drones and other advanced equipment in eastern Congo, saying it would enhance the ability of peacekeepers to track armed groups and help protect U.N. forces from ambushes.

U.N. officials say drones could also be useful in other African conflicts and possibly in the search in Central Africa for leaders and members of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a brutal gang of jungle militiamen headed by warlord Joseph Kony, who is accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court.

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UN wants to use surveillance drones in Congo

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The United Nations outlined its case to the Security Council Tuesday to use surveillance drones in Congo for the first time but ran into opposition from neighboring Rwanda which is believed to be backing rebels who recently took control of many towns in the conflict-wracked east.

U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous asked the council to support the deployment of drones to help the more than 17,700 U.N. peacekeepers and over 1,400 international police in the vast country carry out their main mission of protecting civilians, U.N. diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed.

Congolese army troops were unable to halt the M23 rebels who took control of many villages and towns in the mineral-rich east and briefly held the key eastern city of Goma before withdrawing in early December. The peacekeeping force — the largest of the U.N.’s 15 global operations — did little to protect the tens of thousands of civilians, many of whom fled their homes.

Brieuc Pont, the spokesman for France‘s U.N. Mission, tweeted that “the U.N. in Congo needs additional and modern assets, including drones, to be better informed and more reactive.”

But Rwanda‘s U.N. Ambassador Eugene-Richard Gasana said his government and others have legitimate concerns about the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, especially before an assessment from the U.N. Secretariat later this year on the legal, technical and financial implications of using UAVs.

“It might have a precedence on other countries,” Gasana told several reporters after the meeting. “We owe them a kind of explanation. It is about human beings, it is not about ‘Star Wars.’ We need this new technology, but at which cost?”

Drones are being increasingly used in Western military operations but there are suspicions, especially in developing nations, that they will become a new intelligence-gathering tool for the West.

Rwanda raised its concern in the closed session that drone inspections would make the U.N. a belligerent force, which wouldn’t contribute to the safety of U.N. peacekeepers, one diplomat said. Diplomats said Pakistan, where U.S. drones have been used against suspected terrorists, also voiced concerns about their use in Congo at the council meeting.

The diplomats said France, Britain, the U.S. and other Western countries back the deployment of drones in eastern Congo, saying it would enhance the ability of peacekeepers to track armed groups and help protect U.N. forces from ambushes. U.N. officials say drones could also be useful in other African conflicts and possibly in the search in Central Africa for leaders and members of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a brutal gang of jungle militiamen headed by warlord Joseph Kony which has been accused of carrying out massacres, mutilating victims and using children as soldiers and sex slaves.

Eastern Congo has been engulfed in fighting since the 1994 Rwanda genocide, in which at least 500,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered by Hutu militias before a Tutsi-led rebel army took power in Rwanda. More than 1 million Rwandan Hutus fled across the border into Congo, and Rwanda has invaded Congo to take action against Hutu militias there. The exploitation of Congo‘s mineral resources continues to exacerbate conflict and instability on the ground.

The M23 rebel group is made up of hundreds of mainly Tutsi soldiers who deserted the Congolese army in April. A U.N. group of experts reported in November that M23 is backed by Rwanda, which has provided them with battalions of fighters and sophisticated arms, like night vision goggles. Rwanda denies supporting and arming the rebel group.

Since withdrawing from Goma, M23 has taken steps toward negotiating with the Congolese government.

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