Philippine Deputy FM Thanks Syria for Help in Releasing Kidnapped UNDOF Observers

Philippine Deputy Foreign Minister, Rafael Seguis, thanked Syria for its help and cooperation for releasing the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) Filipino observers who were kidnapped by an armed terrorist group.

During Seguis’s meeting with the Deputy Foreign and Expatriates Minister, Dr. Fayssal Mikdad on Sunday, Dr. Mikdad said that Syria has honored its obligations and the international legitimacy, and keenness for the safety of the UN forces, indicating that it has cooperated with UNDOF over forty years and will continue to do so.

Mikdad pointed out the threat posed by these groups to the lives of UNDOF forces and the locals, which makes it imperative that the UN shoulders its responsibilities in sending a vocal message to these groups and their backers to pull out of the area to avoid a repetition of these incidents.

Talks during the meeting centered on the situation in the region, with Dr. Mikdad presenting an explanation of the political program for solving the crisis in Syria.

He affirmed that the program expressed Syria’s belief in dialogue for reaching a peaceful solution.

Seguis offered condolences over the victims of the terrorist bombings in Damascus, hoping Syria would get over its ordeal through dialogue.