Iraqi insurgents threaten to kill 2 Bulgarians
Latest abduction follows taking of Filipino hostage
MSNBC
| July 9 2004
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two Bulgarians were shown
handcuffed in a videotape broadcast Friday on Arab television, and a group
loyal to insurgency leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi threatened to execute them
if the U.S. military did not release all Iraqi detainees within 24 hours.
The Tawhid and Jihad group sent the Al-Jazeera
satellite network a video showing the Bulgarians flanked by three masked
men, two carrying rifles and one carrying a rocket propelled grenade launcher.
On the wall behind them was their group’s black flag with a golden
circle.
The group claimed responsibility for the beheading of U.S.
businessman Nicholas Berg and South Korean translator Kim Sun-il. It was
also believed to be behind a series of attacks on police and security forces
in Iraq that killed 100 people in the days leading up to the coalition forces’
handover of power to an Iraqi interim government last month.
An editor at Al-Jazeera’s newsroom in Doha said the
channel received the tape Thursday. Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry confirmed
the kidnappings, identifying the two men as truck drivers Ivaylo Kepov and
Georgi Lazov.
Philippines bars contract workers
The abduction of the Bulgarians was the latest bid for leverage by insurgents.
The Philippines on Thursday barred its contract workers — the backbone
of the U.S. military’s support staff in Iraq — from coming here
after militants released a videotape threatening to kill a Filipino hostage.
The threat left Filipino workers praying for their countryman
and worried about their own safety.
The videotape of the Filipino — also aired by Al-Jazeera,
on Wednesday — showed three armed and masked men stood behind the
seated hostage, threatening to kill him if the Philippines doesn’t
withdraw its troops out within three days.
The Philippine charge d’affaires in Baghdad, Ricardo
Endaya, said the hostage was abducted near the restive city of Fallujah,
west of Baghdad, on the main highway used by the workers. ABS-CBN TV, quoting
the Philippine ambassador in Qatar, identified him as Angelo dela Cruz,
a truck driver who crossed into Iraq from Saudi Arabia.
Only 51 Philippines soldiers and police are part of the
nearly 160,000-strong multinational force; their deployment is scheduled
to end later this month and Manila has been considering whether to extend
their tour of duty.
‘We are very worried’
It is the 4,100 Filipino contractors working on U.S. military bases who
have become so crucial to day-to-day functioning, providing food services,
janitorial work and building maintenance.
“We are very worried. We’re taken in and out
by road from Baghdad to Jordan,” one worker said, asking that his
name not be used for fear of losing his job. “We’ve asked to
be taken out by air, but the company still takes us out by road.”
He said there were no plans for the workers to be evacuated,
and they were not afraid to be on the base. They were mainly concerned about
finding a safe way out of the country when their six-month contracts expire.
There are frequent attacks on convoys traveling that highway
and kidnappings are common. Earlier this year, three Filipino workers were
killed in attacks by Iraqi insurgents.
Most of the Filipino workers are employed by Pentagon contractor
KBR Inc., or one the company’s subcontractors. The U.S. military referred
all inquiries to the company. KBR is the engineering and construction subsidiary
of Halliburton Corp.
