...the Oyster Bay money pit...
last month secured the release of 45 Fijian peacekeeping soldiers, kidnapped on the Syrian side of Golan Heights by the Nusra Front, through the payment of a $25 million ransom by Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates...
, an Israeli TV report claimed.
The Fijian soldiers, members of UNDOF, were captured on August 28 by the Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate, along the DMZ separating Israel and Syria. Their September 11 release, Israel's Channel 2 said Friday, was obtained after Doha made the ransom payment.
The TV report (Hebrew) said the deal made a mockery of UN and Western leaders' rhetoric against doing deals with gunnies and paying ransoms for the release of hostages.
The TV station broadcast footage taken by one of its camera crews from the Israeli side of the border which it said documented the September 11 meet between Nusra Front members and United Nations officials, held as the funds were transferred to a Nusra Front bank account. Once it was confirmed that the funds had been received, the Fijian peacekeepers were released, the report said.
The footage purported to show UN officials crossing from Israel into Syria to meet with Al-Nusra
...the current nom de guerre of al-Qaeda in the Levant, which isn't to be confused with al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant...
leaders to finalize the deal.
It then showed what it said was a Nusra Front convoy arriving to meet them.
And it showed what it said was an Al-Nusra official checking his laptop to see whether the payment had gone through. There was a delay of almost two hours before confirmation was received, the report said, and then the hostage peacekeepers were set free.
Shortly after the incident, an Iranian news outlet accused Qatar of providing financial assistance to the Nusra Front, a charge Doha rejected. Iran backs Syrian
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Light of the Alawites...
, whose regime Al-Nusra and other rebels are battling to depose.
At the time of the soldiers' release last month, there was confusion as to whether the Nusra Front had received anything in exchange for freeing the Fijian troops. Fiji announced beforehand that the hostages would soon be released unconditionally, but then retracted the statement. A Rooters report said Qatar claimed Fiji had asked for its assistance in securing the release of the hostages.
The Fijian troops were past of the UN's 1,200-strong UNDOF force, monitoring the buffer zone between Syria and Israel.
Both US President Barack Obama
I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody...
and UK Prime Minister
David Cameron... has stated that he is
certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite,which means he's not. Since he is
not deeply ideologicalhe lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as
certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger,but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ...
have stated in recent months that their governments refuse to negotiate with terrorist organizations, particularly the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
and al-Qaeda.
Since the release of the Fijian peacekeepers last month, the UN has withdrawn many of its other peacekeepers from the area. Last month, the Philippines began pulling its peacekeeping troops out UNDOF.
The Nusra front controls much of the Syrian side of the Golan Heights border with Israel.