Video Shows Peacekeepers Held in Syria, U.N. Says Negotiations Ongoing

Video footage posted on the Internet Thursday showed some of a group of 21 Filipino U.N. peacekeepers seized by Syrian rebels the previous day, with one of them saying they were safe and being cared for, as the U.N. said it was trying to negotiate the troops' release.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights posted the video which shows six uniformed members of the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), and an officer who identifies himself as a member of the Filipino battalion of the U.N.

The men had been patrolling the sensitive Golan armistice line with Israel on Wednesday when they were seized.

The Filipino captain said they had been traveling to Jamla when there was bombing and artillery fire, and local people helped them to safety.

He said they were distributed to different places "to keep us safe" and they were given food and water.

Their abduction sparked a chorus of international condemnation amid concern that their seizure might prompt more governments to withdraw their contingents from an already depleted U.N. mission at a time of soaring tensions in the area.

Meanwhile, the United Nations said Thursday it was still trying to negotiate the release of the peacekeepers.

"The mission has been in touch with the peacekeepers by telephone and confirmed they have not been harmed," U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters. "The United Nations is working to secure the release of the peacekeepers."

A U.N. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) mission was "negotiating with the armed group and the Syrian authorities" to obtain a release.

The 21 unarmed Filipino troops from UNDOF were abducted on Wednesday by Syrian rebels who had at first demanded that government forces pull back from a village in the Golan Heights ceasefire zone.

UNDOF has been in the Golan Heights since 1974 monitoring a ceasefire between Syria and Israel. The Syrian civil war has spilled over into the zone in recent months.