Austria begins withdrawing Golan peacekeepers

Defense ministry says first 60 to 80 soldiers will land in Vienna, you can "already see the withdrawal on site."

By REUTERS
A United Nations (UN) peacekeeping soldier (photo credit: REUTERS/Ammar Awad)
A United Nations (UN) peacekeeping soldier
(photo credit: REUTERS/Ammar Awad)
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 defense ministry said.
A Reuters journalist on the Golan said Austrian troops had already moved from the Quneitra crossing point to a United Nations base inside the Israeli-held part of the heights on Tuesday.
"The first 60 to 80 soldiers will land in Vienna tomorrow afternoon, so you can already see the withdrawal on site," Defense Ministry spokesman Andreas Strobl told Reuters in Vienna.
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.
Chancellor Werner Faymann defended neutral Austria's decision to withdraw from Golan, where its roughly 380 soldiers make up the biggest contingent in the 1,000-strong force.
"We never could have and would never have wanted to take on a military mission to mediate or intervene between the opposition rebels and governmental troops," he told reporters after the government's weekly cabinet meeting.
"We took over a different mandate, which was appropriate for a neutral country."
He denied that Austria, which also has peacekeeping troops in hot spots including Lebanon, Kosovo and Bosnia, would suffer in international stature from the move.