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| Southeast Asia |
| Manila Rebuffs Kidnappers in Iraq; Bulgarians Alive |
| 2004-07-11 |
| A Filipino hostage in Iraq was in grave peril on Sunday after Manila rejected his captors’ demands for an early withdrawal of its U.S.-allied troops. But in a glimmer of hope for two Bulgarian truck drivers held hostage, Sofia said they were still alive after a Friday night execution deadline set by their kidnappers expired. Militants holding Filipino truck driver Angelo de la Cruz vowed to kill him unless Manila pledged by 11 p.m. (3 p.m. EDT) on Sunday to pull its 51-strong humanitarian force out of Iraq by July 20. Manila held firm. "In line with our commitment to the free people of Iraq, we reiterate our plan to return our humanitarian contingent as scheduled on August 20, 2004," Philippine Foreign Secretary Delia Albert told a news conference in Manila. De la Cruz had appeared close to release on Saturday night before his captors issued a fresh death threat. "Yesterday was a false hope, he was not released but we are hoping he will soon be free," said a Philippine embassy source in Baghdad. He said he had heard nothing since the kidnappers had extended their deadline to kill the 46-year-old driver. In Sofia, the Bulgarian government said two Bulgarian truck drivers taken hostage were alive after a Friday deadline for their execution expired. "Now I can confirm the information, which has been received three hours ago (5 a.m. EDT) that our compatriots are alive," Foreign Minister Solomon Passy told a press briefing. Amid the drama of the hostage crisis, guerrillas struck in northern Iraq, killing a soldier in a U.S. taskforce with a roadside bomb attack on a convoy south of Mosul. It’s good to hear that Arroyo has reconsidered any compliance with terrorist demands. Negotiation will never work. Death is the only language that terrorists will ever understand. |
| Posted by:Zenster |