Brussels, 07/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 6 June, Austria announced its decision to withdraw its troops that are on the Golan Heights as part of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), after the Syrian regime took back a crossing point from the Syrian rebels on the ceasefire line with Israel. Austria's Chancellor Werner Faymann and Minister for Foreign Affairs Michael Spindelegger said that “the development in the early morning hours of today [Thursday 6 June] has shown that it is no longer justifiable to watch and wait”.
Describing the situation as regrettable, Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt, stated that Vienna had warned of this action before the failure of the EU to reach an agreement on the arms embargo. UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon also regretted the decision, saying that this measure will affect UNDOF's ability to take action.
No news of French journalists. Elsewhere, French radio Europe I confirmed on 7 June that there had been no news for 24 hours of two of its journalists. They were visiting Aleppo and have reportedly been kidnapped. French President François Hollande called for their immediate release. The Italian journalist from La Stampa, who was kidnapped on 9 April, is reportedly alive and in Syria, according to a comment from the newspaper's director on Twitter on 5 June. (CG/transl.fl)