UN extends mission along Israeli-Syrian border

The UN Security Council voted unanimously Wednesday to extend the more than 1,000-strong UN peacekeeping force along the Israeli-Syrian border for six months. The UN Disengagement Observer Force was established in 1974, following the 1973 Yom Kippur War, to monitor the disengagement of Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights. In a report to the council recommending extension of the force's mandate, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said "the situation in the Middle East is tense and is likely to remain so unless and until a comprehensive settlement covering all aspects of the Middle East problem can be reached." Burkina Faso's UN Ambassador Michel Kafando, the current council president, said the secretary-general's statement "reflects the view of the Security Council." A year of indirect peace talks between Israel and Syria ended in January. Syrian President Bashar Assad said in a newspaper interview in March that the talks failed because Israel would not make a clear commitment to return all of the Golan up to the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, Israel's main water source. Syria has said it is willing to resume the Turkish-mediated talks if they focus on a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Golan. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is not willing to cede the territory Syria wants. (23,48)