Syrian Rebels Say They Have Released Captured United Nations Peacekeepers
Source: New York Times
By ANNE BARNARD and HANIA MOURTADA
Published: March 9, 2013
ANTAKYA, Turkey — Syrian rebels said they had released 21 detained United Nations peacekeepers to Jordanian forces on Saturday in an apparent end to a standoff that raised new tensions in the region and new questions about the fighters just as the United States and other Western nations were grappling over whether to arm them.
The release was confirmed by Mokhtar Lamani, who heads the Damascus office of Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations-Arab League mediator, according to news service reports.
A commander of the Martyrs of Yarmouk rebel brigade, which detained the soldiers, disavowed earlier rebel assertions that the United Nations soldiers were being held hostage to force the Syrian government to stop shelling the area and said they had been held for their safety.
“They are safe now; we have delivered them across the border, praise be to God,” said the commander, who gave only his nickname, Col. Abu Mahmoud, for security reasons. “We took them to keep them safe because they were going through a very dangerous area and they were our guests, and we protected them with our own chests.”
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/world/middleeast/syria-rebels-say-un-peacekeepers-have-been-released-to-jordan.html?_r=0
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