Austria says peacekeepers to stay in Golan for now

Austria retracted a threat to pull 380 peacekeepers from the UN buffer zone between Syria and Israel, saying on Tuesday that only Britain and France - not the whole European Union - were ready to arm Syrian rebels.

Vienna had led efforts to extend an EU arms embargo on Syria, arguing that sending more weapons to the region would only fan the fighting, dash hopes for a peace deal and make Austrian peacekeeping troops potential targets for retribution. (Reuters)