Peacekeeper Fijians released
Two weeks ago, 45 Fijian Peacekeepers under control of the UN were captured by al-Qaeda Syrian rebels. Yesterday they were finally released, according to the Associated Press;
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said it played a role in winning the release of the peacekeepers through mediation. Qatar said it became involved at at Fiji’s request. The official Qatar News Agency reported late Thursday that the tiny Arab Gulf emirate had “succeeded in the release of the Fijian soldiers.”
[…]
At U.N. headquarters, the Fijians’ release was greeted with relief and renewed indignation.
Fiji’s U.N. Mission tweeted a photo of diplomats celebrating with their thumbs up, reading: “Free at last! Thumbs up from the Fiji Permanent Mission in New York to our 45 brave Fijian UNDOF peacekeepers.”
Jordan’s U.N. Ambassador Dina Kawar said the idea of peacekeepers being taken hostage “is just impossible to accept because it will happen more and more, and that will make countries hesitant about sending their armies, so we were very happy.”
Yeah, it sounds like someone paid a ransom, so that should stop the practice.
By the way, no Filipino peacekeepers were released, mostly because the Filipinos didn’t throw down their weapons like they were ordered to do by their UN commander. The UN refutes that;
In a press briefing in New York on Wednesday, Hervé Ladsous, UN Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, belied the claims of the Filipino peacekeepers that they were ordered by their commander, Lt. Gen. Iqbal Singh Singha, to surrender their arms to the rebels last week.
Asked what order was given to the Filipinos, Ladsous replied, “Never to hand over weapons.”
The order was simply “not to shoot,” he said.
Yeah, that’s so different.
Category: United Nations
“…simply ordered not to shoot.”
What were they supposed to do then, offer them Skittles while singing “Kum ba yah”? Teh Stoopid is always strong with any United Nothing entity!!
They were probably supposed to use harsh words in place of bullets.
It’s all political semantics and double-talk. Like claiming that nobody from the White House actually said the words “stand down” in Benghazi or Clinton asking what the definition of “is” is.
This probably just funded the next big terror attack within our borders.
My god. Fuck the U.N. Bunch of corrupt pussies.
Is anybody else seeing a pattern here? How big is Qatar and how many Qataris are there (as opposed to foreign nationals who do the work)? I am thinking we could eliminate some of our jihadi problems if we could force Qatar to think about their own survival.
Qatar my ass. They were released because they heard the Irish QRF was up all night drinking, they were pissed and on their way to rescue them.
What’s the betting choices on what ransom was paid?
I’m guessing it at least included any and all intel that the US has provided to the UN on that AO, including names and addresses of those providing that intel within reach of the jihadiscum.