DHAKA: Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate Al-Nusra Front has said it will free 45 Fijian UN peacekeepers whom it kidnapped after the capture of a border crossing with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

In a video released late Wednesday through its media wing, the group said it had consulted religious leaders and they had advised ‘that we should release these prisoners’.

Al-Nusra had originally demanded various terms for the release of the peacekeepers, including the delivery of aid to areas besieged by the Syrian government, the release of prisoners and the group’s removal from a UN terror blacklist.

A Fijian peacekeeper, who did not identify himself, also spoke in the footage, confirming that the group had pledged to free the soldiers.

BDST: 1403 HRS, SEP 11, 2014