World press on 20 UN observers abducted in Syria (March 7, 2013)

"Syrian rebel group claims 20 U.N. observers were being rescued, not kidnapped" is an article published today by the New York Times.
"A Syrian rebel group that once claimed it had abducted a group of U.N. observers in the Golan Heights announced Thursday that it had in fact rescued them from fighting in the area and called on the United Nations to send a security convoy to pick them up," the article reads.
All reports appeared in facebook on the same wall. "We request from the United Nations to send us a security convoy so that we can deliver them to the organization," the rebel group wrote.
"The rebels abducted about 20 U.N. observers from the Golan Heights on Wednesday and threatened to hold them until the Syrian government withdrew its troops from the area, marking the most serious escalation of the conflict yet along Syria’s southern border with Israel."
"On a day that the number of Syrian refugees who have fled the fighting officially passed the 1 million mark, the incident highlighted the danger that Syria’s spiraling conflict will spill beyond its borders and draw in not only the country’s neighbors but perhaps also the wider international community. The vast majority of the refugees have sought sanctuary in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq, where they are straining resources and threatening the stability of communities that are often already volatile."
The New York Times also published an article dedicated to the same topic under the title "U.N. Starts Talks to Free Peacekeepers Held by Syria Rebels."
Commenting on the role of Israel in the conflict, the newspaper writes: "Israeli officials have expressed concern about the presence of Islamic extremist groups fighting the Syrian Army close to the cease-fire line with Israel. In recent months, Israel has upgraded its troops and surveillance along its northern frontier and is constructing a new border fence. Distancing Israel from events across the cease-fire line on Thursday, Amos Gilad, a senior official in the Israeli Defense Ministry, said that “we can rely on the U.N. to persuade” the insurgent fighters to release the captive troops."
"A video uploaded on YouTube by a group that identified itself as the Martyrs of Yarmouk claimed responsibility on Wednesday and said the peacekeepers would be held until Syrian government forces withdrew from the area around Al Jamlah, the site of the weekend clashes. The video does not show any of the captives, but United Nations vehicles are visible. A speaker in the video warns in Arabic: “If the withdrawal does not take place within 24 hours, we will deal with those guys like war prisoners. And praise to God.”