Croatia to withdraw troops from Golan Heights

               
Croatia announced on Thursday that it will withdraw its soldiers deployed in the Golan Heights.               

This decision comes after reports said that Syrian rebels fighting against the regime of Syrian President Bachar al-Assad were receiving weapons from the Balkans, while the New York Times newspaper reported that Saudi Arabia was supplying Syrian rebels with weapons bought from Croatia.              

Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic pointed out that Croatian soldiers are no longer safe in the Golan Heights, stressing that Croatia wants its soldiers to return home safe and sound.             

In this context, a Croatian foreign ministry spokeswoman denied to The Times that the Balkan country had sold any weapons to either Saudi Arabia or the Syrian rebels since the start of the Arab Spring             

It is worth mentioning that Croatia has nearly 100 soldiers serving with the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) tasked to monitor a ceasefire between Israeli and Syrian troops on the Golan Heights.