PHL lays down 3 conditions for continued presence in Golan Heights

From the Philippine News Agency (Jul 14): PHL lays down 3 conditions for continued presence in Golan Heights

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario has met United Nations officials and laid out conditions for Filipino peacekeeping troops to stay in the volatile Golan Heights, including providing weapons for their defense by October and allowing troops to be assigned in the dangerous region on a six-month rotational basis.

U.N. Undersecretary General for Peacekeeping Operations Herve Ladsous pledged the world body "will be working with all stakeholders to provide what is needed" and "agreed that providing more robust self-defense capabilities for UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) personnel would be vital to the success of the mission," the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Sunday.

Del Rosario met Ladsous on July 12 to seek greater protection and security for the 343 Filipino troops, who are part of the U.N. mission monitoring the armistice line in Golan Heights between Syria and Israel following the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, were seized by rebels.Some 25 Filipino peacekeeping troops were seized in two separate occasions by rebels in March and May this year, prompting the Philippine government to re-assess its troop presence there.

“Secretary Del Rosario emphasized the conditionalities set by the Philippine government for its continued engagement in UNDOF. Secretary del Rosario, however, informed Under-Secretary Ladsous that Philippine troops would in the meantime remain in UNDOF until August 11,” the DFA said.

Del Rosario identified the following conditionalities:

 

--The UN is able to deploy UNDOF’s mandated full troop strength of 1,250 by October 2013;

 

-- The necessary equipment for the protection and defense of Filipino troops and other UNDOF are procured by October 2013;

 

-- The Philippines be allowed to deploy troops using a six month rotation.

UNDOF contingents are deployed by rotation cycles, usually every six months. However, the U.N., in early 2013, extended the cycle to one year.

The Philippines has a total of 742 police, military and jail personnel in eight U.N. peacekeeping operations, namely Haiti, Liberia, South Sudan, Cote d’ Ivoire, the disputed territory of Abyei between Sudan and South Sudan, the India-Pakistan border and Afghanistan.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=543986