Aquino oks continued deployment of Filipino peacekeepers to Golan Heights

From the Philippine News Agency (Jul 5): Aquino oks continued deployment of Filipino peacekeepers to Golan Heights

President Benigno Aquino III has agreed to continue with the deployment of some 340 Filipino peacekeepers to Golan Heights until August 11, at which time the rotational process will be determined.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, in a statement on Friday, said that subject to meeting considerations which the Philippines has made to enhance the security and safety of Filipino peacekeepers, "the President has expressed the Philippines is prepared to continue its UNDOF (United Nation Disengagement Observer Force) participation."

Escalating violence against the UNDOF, which monitors a 1974 truce between Israel and Syria, has seen other countries pull out their troops.

Austria, previously the top contributor, is set to withdraw its 377 soldiers by the end of this month, leaving a force of 530 from the Philippines and India.

The abduction of 25 Filipino peacekeepers by Syrian rebels this year as well as the wounding of a soldier at a UNDOF outpost, prompted the DFA Secretary to recommend to President Aquino for the withdrawal of Filipino contingents in Golan Heights.

Del Rorario said that the President has agreed to continue with the deployment of Filipino contingents until August 11, 2013, "at which time the rotational process will be determined."

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=0&sid=&nid=0&rid=541373