The Philippines was planning to withdraw their troops from the UN peacekeeping contingent in the Golan Heights after recent abductions, the foreign minister said Friday according to dpa. Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said he has recommended to President Benigno Aquino III the pull-out of the 342 Filipinos in the UN Disengagement Observer Force, after four of them were seized Tuesday, the second set of abductions since March. "As soon as (the president) says go, we will undertake to (pull out) as quickly as possible," he told a media forum in Manila. "Negotiations are being undertaken with the group that has allegedly abducted these peacekeepers," del Rosario said. In March, 21 Filipinos were captured by Syrian rebels who demanded that Syrian regime troops withdraw from the south of the country. They were released unharmed three days later. The current contingent joined in November, and would normally serve a tour of duty of three to six months. It would not be replaced according to the plan submitted Friday, but this would not affect the Philippines' commitments to other UN peacekeeping missions, del Rosario said.
