Opposition fighter who held 21 Filipino U.N. peacekeepers in Syria put blankets on their hostages to help them sleep through the cold nights and a rebel commander became visibly emotional when his group released the men, AP quoted a U.N. peacekeeping official as saying Sunday. Despite the good treatment they got from the insurgents fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime, the peacekeepers were relieved to have survived the four-day ordeal unscathed and were thankful for U.N. and Philippine government efforts that set them free, said Philippine army Col. Cirilito Sobejano, who is the chief of staff of the U.N.'s monitoring mission in the Golan Heights. The unarmed Filipino army soldiers, who were riding in trucks, were abducted by anti-Assad gunmen after providing water and food to other peacekeeping troops Wednesday in southern Syria near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. After tough negotiations, they were freed Saturday on Jordan's border and taken to a hotel in the Jordanian capital of Amman, Philippine officials said. A medical checkup showed the released hostages were all in good health.
