Fiji soldiers captured by Syrian rebels

Transcript

Fiji's military commander says he and the United Nations still have no idea where 45 of his soldiers captured by Syrian rebels are being held.

A crisis centre has been set up in Fiji for the families of the UN peacekeepers captured in the Golan Heights, as negotiations continue to release the peacekeepers.

Jamie Tahana reports.

Brigadier General Mosese Tikoitoga says the soldiers were captured near Quneitra during fighting between Syrian rebels and government forces on Thursday. He says negotiators have spoken with the captors, an al-Qaeda affiliated group called the al-Nusra front.

MOSESE TIKOITOGA: We can't confirm the location of our troops, where they are at the moment. We know that the al-Nusra group is responsible for holding them and they are the group that is now negotiating with the UN. We know that the UN is now taking the lead and are sending professional negotiators into Syria.
 

Mosese Tikotoga says the group is believed to be safe and in good health, and no demands or conditions have been made for the peacekeepers' release. In a statement released late on Sunday, al-Nusra published a photo showing the men in their uniforms, along with 45 identification cards.

After al-Nusra's statement was released, the UN and Fiji authorities admitted that 45 people were being held, having said for three days that it was 44. Al-Nusra says the troops were captured in retaliation for the UN's alleged ignorance of bloodshed of Muslims in Syria.

AL-NUSRA: In response to all of the crimes and complicity of the United Nations against the Sham [Syria] and his family, the Front has detained 45 of the Disengagement Observer Force of the United Nations; those forces that have been imposed on the people of the Levant since 1974 to ensure the security and protection of the borders of the Zionist entity [Israel] who, at the same time, completely ignored the blood of Muslims being shed daily on the other side of the border.

The United Nations' secretary general, Ban Ki Moon, who is in Samoa for the Small Island Developing States conference, has phoned Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama to say the UN is doing its utmost to obtain the unconditional and immediate release of the peacekeepers.

Australia's foreign minister has also offered her country's support and intelligence resources to Fiji. In Suva, the military has set up a crisis centre where Mosese Tikoitoga says relatives can go for information and support.

MOSESE TIKOITOGA: We've set up a crisis management centre where we can have all the access to support for the families. We're bringing in counsellors, we're bringing in all the resources of government, including a briefing area to continuously update the families and give them their peace of mind.

The troops were in Golan as part of a UN mission to monitor a 1974 disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria. Austria, Japan and Croatia have recently pulled their troops out of the Golan Heights due to the deteriorating security situation caused by spillover from the Syrian civil war. However, Mosese Tikoitoga says withdrawing over 400 Fijian troops from Golan is completely out of the question.

MOSESE TIKOITOGA: We fully understand the responsibilities that we have as a good global citizen and our responsibilities as peacekeepers. We went there to do a job - we fully understand the mandate of the UN - and we will continue to do that job, not only for ourselves but also for the betterment of the world.

In a fresh statement, Mosese Tikoitoga says the military has already started selecting soldiers to replace the captured men in the Golan Heights.