Syrian Rebels Say They Won't Harm UN Peacekeepers, Want Troops Out of Area

Will hold peacekeepers until Syrian government gives in to demands

Rebels holding 21 UN peacekeepers near the Golan Heights in southern Syria say they will not harm them but insist government forces must pull back from the region before they are freed, an activist said on Thursday.

Rami Abdelrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights quoted a spokesman for the "Martyrs of Yarmouk" rebel brigade as saying the convoy of peacekeepers were being held as "guests" in the village of Jamla, about one mile (kilometer) from a ceasefire line with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.