Syria: Philippines Awaits Release Of Troops

The Philippines has demanded the release of 21 Filipino UN peacekeepers captured by Syrian rebels in the Golan Heights.

The unarmed soldiers were part of a convoy that was stopped on Wednesday by gunmen who said they would be held until Syrian regime forces pulled back from a Golan village.

Philippines Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said the government "strongly condemns the illegal detention" of the peacekeepers.

He added their capture was a gross violation of international law, pointing out they were operating under the UN flag.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said the UN commander negotiating with the rebel group had told him talks were progressing well and the troops should be released within 24 hours.

In videos posted online several of the peacekeepers said they were safe and sound, although activists reported clashes and shelling in the area where they are being held.

One of the videos shows three men dressed in camouflage and blue bullet-proof vests emblazoned with the UN and "Philippines."

"We, the UN personnel here, are safe and the Free Syrian Army are treating us good," one of them says in English.

"We cannot go home because the government of (President Bashar) Assad do not stop the bombing. To our family, we hope to see you soon and we are OK here."

The second video shows six peacekeepers sitting in a room. One, who identifies himself as a captain, says that as their convoy came under shelling on Wednesday, "we stopped and civilian people helped us for our safety and distributed us in different places to keep us safe."

A spokesman for the Martyrs of Yarmouk Brigades, which is holding the Filipinos, told The Associated Press via Skype that all 21 "are fine and in good health." He added: "We consider them guests."

In a rebel video uploaded to YouTube on Wednesday, a young man identified as Abu Kaid al Faleh, a spokesman for the brigade, said the peacekeepers would not be freed until Syrian regime forces pull out from the area.

"We call on the US and the United Nations and the Security Council ... we call on them to get Assad forces out in order to release these forces," he said.

"We will not release them until after the Assad forces have withdrawn from the border village of Jamla back to their positions, and if they do not withdraw back within 24 hours, we will deal with these forces as prisoners."

The Yarmouk Brigades said in a statement on its Facebook page on Thursday that Syrian troops were shelling the village, and warned it will be their fault if any harm comes to the peacekeepers.

The 21 soldiers are part of a 300-strong Philippine contingent to a UNDOP force which monitors the increasingly volatile zone separating Israeli and Syrian troops.

They were detained after British Foreign Secretary William Hague announced the UK would be providing military aid , including armoured vehicles, to Syrian opposition groups.