Fijian peacekeepers held in Syria set free — report
No confirmation of claim; news comes day after reports of imminent release were later retracted
An al-Qaeda-linked rebel faction in Syria released 45 Fijian UN peacekeepers Thursday after holding the group captive for two weeks, according to a report from Al-Jazeera.
Israel Radio also reported the release Thursday afternoon, saying the group would soon be transferred to Israel.
Al-Jazeera reported all 45 peacekeepers were safe.
Their release would mark the end of a contentious period of negotiations, during which al-Nusra Front threatened that if the international community did not meet its demands, the Fijians would be tried under Sharia law.
There was no other confirmation of the release. A person who answered the phone at the headquarters of UNDOF, the peacekeeping force deployed between Israel and Syria, told The Times of Israel he did not know anything about the report.
It is unclear as of yet whether the Nusra Front received anything in exchange for the Fijian troops. On Wednesday Fiji announced that the hostages would soon be released unconditionally, but later retracted the statement.
On Thursday, the group released a video showing the 45 peacekeepers, who said they were happy and being taken care of.
In exchange for the Fijians’ release, Nusra Front had demanded removal of the group from the UN terrorist list, the delivery of humanitarian aid to parts of the Syrian capital of Damascus, and compensation for three of its fighters who, it claims, were killed in a shootout with UN officers.
The capture of the 45 came during heavy fighting between rebels groups and Syrian regulars around the Quneitra crossing, the sole transfer point between Israel and Syria. Dozens of other peacekeepers from the Philippines managed to escape the group during a firefight.
The Nusra Front has accused the UN of doing nothing to help the Syrian people since the uprising against President Bashar Assad began in March 2011. It said the Fijians were seized in retaliation for the UN’s ignoring “the daily shedding of the Muslims’ blood in Syria” and even colluding with Assad’s army “to facilitate its movement to strike the vulnerable Muslims” through a buffer zone in the Golan Heights.
AFP contributed to this report.