Bishop offers intelligence to help find Fijian troops in Syria Australia has offered its intelligence resources to help the United Nations track down 45 Fijian peacekeepers kidnapped by al-Qaeda linked terrorists in Syria. It’s believed the 45 Fijian peacekeepers are being held by the terrorist group Jabhat al-Nusra, who overran a Golan Heights crossing last week and forced the UN troops to surrender. They’ve been missing since Wednesday and their whereabouts is unknown. The incident has deeply troubled ministers attending the UN Small Island Developing States conference in Samoa, including Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop. Bishop discussed the situation with UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon at the summit, and has offered Australia’s support to rescue the missing peacekeepers. Bishop told the AAP in Apia that she has assured Fiji that Australia is providing whatever support we can, including our intelligence resources, to assist the UN. She says they are keeping in very close contact with all of their partners and friends in the intelligence network … to make sure they can locate them and they are safe.” Bishop has already assured Fiji’s Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and Foreign Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola that Australia would use its seat on the UN Security Council to monitor the situation. It comes amid reports that a group of Filipino peacekeepers confined to their barracks in a different part of the disputed region had escaped. The UN has been monitoring the Golan Heights since a ceasefire between Syria and Israel in 1974.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 06:50:30 +0000