Al-Nusra Front threatens to try UN Fijian peacekeepers Al-Qaeda affiliate says troops captured on Syrian Golan Heights will face trial according to Sharia law unless demands are met BY LAZAR BERMAN September 5, 2014, 9:20 am 43 Email Print Share Quick Watch0:50Undated image, attached in a statement released on August 30, 2014, on the Hanin Network website, a militant website, shows Fijian UN peacekeepers who were seized by the Nusra Front on August 28, 2014, in the Golan Heights buffer zone between Syria and Israel. (photo credit: AP/Hanin Network Website, File) Undated image, attached in a statement released on August 30, 2014, on the Hanin Network website, a militant website, shows Fijian UN peacekeepers who were seized by the Nusra Front on August 28, 2014, in the Golan Heights buffer zone between Syria and Israel. (photo credit: AP/Hanin Network Website, File)WRITERSLazar Berman Lazar Berman Lazar Berman is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel. Follow or contact:RSSNEWSROOM Email the NewsroomFacebookTwitter RELATED TOPICS AL-NUSRA FRONTFIJIUNDOF UNITED NATIONS DISENGAGEMENT OBSERVER FORCEMORE ON THIS STORY Kerry, Hagel urge coalition ‘willpower’ to destroy ISPhotos of Sotloff’s Israeli ID cards aired on televisionThe day Steven Sotloff chose to become an IsraeliJewish reporters in Arab world keep heritage off the recordHamas leader: No to Israel’s disarmament demandWashington: Dozen Americans fighting with Islamic StateKhamenei approves cooperation with US forces battling ISSotloff died because he symbolized West, democracy, Netanyahu saysShin Bet sources: 10 Israeli Arabs joined Islamic StateIn 2014, France is new top source of immigrants to IsraelIsrael publishes tender for 283 settlement homesSome Christians arm as Mideast perils mountRingo Starr fuming over IS ‘Beatles’Israel bolstering legal team ahead of UN Gaza probe Syrian al-Qaeda branch al-Nusra Front threatened to try 45 UN peacekeepers from Fiji abducted last week in the Golan Heights. Get The Times of Israels Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories FREE SIGN UP! According to the London-based daily Asharq al-Awsat, the jihadist group said it would try the soldiers according to Sharia law. The report added that there has been no progress in talks to release the Fijians. On Wednesday, the UN Security Council called on “countries with influence” to press the al-Qaeda-linked insurgents to release the peacekeepers. A press statement approved by all 15 council members, after a briefing by UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous, again demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the Fijian peacekeepers. Heavy clashes have raged in the Golan Heights since Syrian rebels captured a border crossing between Syria and Israel near the abandoned town of Quneitra last Wednesday. Ladsous told reporters the peacekeepers have shown “steadfastness and courage” and said the UN is working to obtain the swift and unconditional release of the Fijians. “We are sparing no effort to obtain the release of the detained peacekeepers,” he said, but gave no details, stressing the importance of “discretion.” Fiji commander Brig. Gen. Mosese Tikoitoga said Tuesday that the Nusra Front has made three demands for the release of the peacekeepers: It wants to be taken off the UN terrorist list; it demands that humanitarian aid be delivered to parts of the Syrian capital of Damascus; and it calls for compensation for three of its fighters who, it claims, were killed in a shootout with UN officers. The Nusra Front 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. UNDOF was established in May 1974 following intensified firing on the Israel-Syria border after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967, and Syria has campaigned for decades for return of the land. For nearly four decades, the UN monitors helped enforce a stable truce between Israel and Syria, but the Golan Heights has increasingly become a battlefield in the more than three-year-old Syrian conflict. The mission currently has troops from six countries: Fiji, India, Ireland, Nepal, Netherlands and the Philippines. A number of countries have withdrawn their peacekeepers due to the escalating violence. AP contributed to this report. Read more: Al-Nusra Front threatens to try UN Fijian peacekeepers | The Times of Israel timesofisrael/al-nusra-front-threatens-to-try-un-fijian-peacekeepers/#ixzz3CT6fml20 Follow us: @timesofisrael on Twitter | timesofisrael on Facebook
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 18:57:58 +0000
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