UN renews mandate on Golan Heights monitoring mission

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The UN Security Council extended a mandate to Dec. 31 for a UN mission monitoring a 1974 cease-fire between Syria and Israel.

The unanimously adopted resolution urges all parties to fully cooperate with the operations of the mission, to respect its privileges and immunities and to ensure its freedom of movement, as well as the security of and unhindered and immediate access for UN personnel carrying out the mandate.

The UN Disengagement Observer Force has been stationed in the Golan Heights, a jagged plateau in southwestern Syria to monitor a disengagement accord between Syria and Israel, which followed the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Israel occupied two-thirds of the territory during initial fighting and annexed it in 1981 -- a move never recognized by the international community.