Militants 'execute' Bulgarian hostage

A MILITANT group holding two Bulgarian truck drivers hostage in Iraq said last night it had executed one of them and planned to kill the other in 24 hours.

Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad group threatened last week to kill the men if the US did not release all Iraqi detainees by Saturday.

In a video broadcast on Pan-Arab TV station Al-Jazeera, the group said it had carried out its threat against one of the men and would kill the other in 24 hours. The video showed three men dressed in black with their faces covered by masks. One of the hostages sat in front of them.

Bulgaria has identified the two hostages as Ivaylo Kepov and Georgi Lazov and said they were kidnapped while travelling from Bulgaria to Mosul in northern Iraq. The were scheduled to be in Mosul on June 29, the last day either man contacted his family.

Bulgaria, which has a 480-member infantry battalion serving in central Iraq, sent a team of diplomats to Iraq to try to negotiate the men's freedom.

Deputy foreign minister Gergana Grancharova said earlier yesterday that she was confident the hostages were still alive.

"Work continues through all possible channels for heading the situation in a favourable direction," Ms Grancharova said.

The Tawhid and Jihad group has claimed responsibility for the beheading of US businessman Nicholas Berg and South Korean translator Kim Sun-il.

It was also believed to be behind a series of attacks that killed 100 people in the days leading up to the coalition forces' hand over of power to an Iraqi interim government last month.

Meanwhile, the Philippine government was waiting for information yesterday after making a direct appeal to the insurgents holding a Filipino hostage.

Philippine under-secretary of foreign affairs Rafael Seguis appeared on Al-Jazeera yesterday in an effort to secure Angelo de la Cruz's release.

Insurgents had said they would kill the truck driver by Monday evening if the Philippines did not agree to pull its 51-member peacekeeping force out of Iraq by July 20. The force was already scheduled to leave on August 20.

Mr Seguis said yesterday the Philippines would pull its troops out "as soon as possible". It appeared the statement may have been deliberately ambiguous in a bid to save Mr de la Cruz, and the government did nothing to clarify the issue.

"Let us leave the government to do what is necessary to save the life of an innocent Filipino and to uphold our nation's interest," presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said.

Militant group the Iraqi Islamic Army-Khaled bin al-Waleed Corps said in a video shown on Al-Jazeera that it had done everything to prove it wanted to spare the life of Mr de la Cruz, a father of eight.

Elsewhere in Iraq, several explosions were heard in the capital Baghdad.

At least one of the blasts appeared to have been triggered by a hand grenade tossed at a US patrol in central Baghdad, said Master Sergeant David Larsen of the 1st Cavalry Division. No US casualties were reported after the incident.

In the northern city of Mosul, guerrillas hiding in an alley opened fire on a passing Iraqi National Guard patrol, killing one and wounding nine, the authorities said.

The guards counterattacked, killing one insurgent and wounding another.