VIENNA: Austria has begun withdrawing peacekeepers from the Golan Heights, winding down a four-decade mission due to spillover fighting from the Syrian civil war, the defence ministry said.
Austrian troops had already moved from the Quneitra crossing point to a United Nations base inside the Israeli-held part of the heights yesterday.
“The first 60 to 80 soldiers will land in Vienna tomorrow afternoon, so you can already see the withdrawal on site,” Defence Ministry spokesman Andreas Strobl said.
The Austrians have patrolled the buffer zone between Israel and Syria as part of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force since it was set up in 1974.
The Vienna government said last week it would pull out after worsening fighting between Syrian rebels and government forces sent its soldiers running for cover.
Two soldiers were wounded last week after Syrian rebels catured a border post then were driven out by government troops.
Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger said Austria would now negotiate with the United Nations about an orderly handover to the next contingent, “if there is one”, but reserved the right to stick to its timetable for a full exit within four weeks.
Russia has offered to replace Austria in the Golan Heights, which were captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War, but the United Nations turned down the offer because the agreement with Israel and Syria precludes permanent members of the UN Security Council from taking part.
Aid nurse killed in Darfur crossfire
KHARTOUM: A Sudanese nurse working for an international aid agency in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region has been shot dead during a gun battle inside a camp for displaced people, humanitarian workers said yesterday.
It is the first known death of an aid worker in Sudan since a Sudanese driver for the United Nations World Food Programme was killed during an attack in war-torn South Kordofan state last August. Ali Al Zatari, the United Nations chief in Sudan, said the killing occurred on Sunday in North Camp, in Central Darfur’s Nertiti town. He strongly condemned the “senseless crime”.
“The killing of this aid worker, and the injury of several other civilians, occurred because an exchange of fire took place in a camp for people displaced by fighting in Darfur. The civilian and humanitarian nature of these camps must be respected.”
No doubts about Iran’s N-programme: Putin
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday he has no doubt that Iran is adhering to international commitments on nuclear non-proliferation but that regional and international concerns about Tehran’s nuclear programme could not be ignored.
Putin, whose country is among six world powers seeking to ensure that Iran does not seek to develop nuclear weapons, also said Iranian threats to Israel’s existence were unacceptable.
Saudi beheads Syrian for drug smuggling
RIYADH: Saudi authorities beheaded yesterday a Syrian man convicted of trying to smuggle narcotics into the ultra-conservative kingdom, the interior ministry said.
Hussam Al Rjoob had attempted to “smuggle a large amount of narcotic tablets,” the ministry said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency.
His execution in the northern province of Jawf brings to 51 the number of people executed in Saudi Arabia this year.
Agencies
