Iraq coalition promises no concessions to kidnappers' demands

A GROWING number of countries and foreign companies working in Iraq whose nationals or employees have been snatched and threatened with death are bowing to abductors' demands in a hostage crisis that refuses to subside.

On Wednesday, all 31 members of the US-led multinational coalition signed a declaration rejecting any negotiations with the kidnappers, who have carried out the threat of killing their hostages more than half-a-dozen times since April.

The declaration said: "We are united in our resolve to make no concessions to terrorists, nor to succumb to terrorist threats.

"We understand that conceding to terrorists will only endanger all members of the multinational force, as well as other countries who are contributing to Iraqi reconstruction and humanitarian assistance."

But recent releases, especially among non-coalition countries and companies, has told a different story.

On Thursday the family of a Jordanian hostage said they had paid a ransom of $100,000 to his kidnappers in exchange for his release.

On Wednesday the governor of Iraq's restive Al-Anbar province resigned after three of his sons were released on condition he leave office.

And on Monday a militant group said it would release a Somali hostage after his Kuwaiti employer said it would cease operations in Iraq, responding to a threat to behead him unless the firm pulled out.

Kidnappers from a variety of groups with similar demands have repeatedly made good on their threats by killing their hostages, either in grisly beheadings or by gunshots to the head, often shown on the internet.

In the latest murder, a Turkish catering firm employee was killed by being shot three times in the head.

Last month, an armed group in Iraq killed two Pakistani hostages, while kidnappers have beheaded a Bulgarian truck driver, a South Korean translator and a US businessman since May.

In April, Italian citizen Fabrizio Quattrocchi was shot in the head by militants after being captured with three compatriots.

Last month's premature withdrawal of Philippine troops from Iraq alarmed all the countries taking part in the multinational force and companies providing services to military and reconstruction missions.

Manila responded to massive public opinion by deciding to withdraw its 51-strong contingent from Iraq a month earlier than planned to spare the life of hostage Angelo de la Cruz.

Philippine armed forces chief of staff General Narciso Abaya on Thursday praised the Filipinos who served in Iraq, saying they had "completed a successful and heroic tour of duty as peacekeepers and nation-builders".

President Gloria Arroyo was condemned by the US and Australia over her decision, which they said was giving in to terrorism and endangered the lives of nationals from other coalition members in Iraq and elsewhere.

The transport sector, which delivers supplies to the multinational force, has been hardest hit by the kidnapping spree, with dozens of foreign truckers abducted along the roads into Iraq from Kuwait, Jordan and Turkey.

After a Turkish trucker was shot dead this week, Turkey's International Transporters' Association urged its members to immediately stop shipping cargo to US troops in Iraq.

Daoud and Partners, a leading Jordanian firm and key supplier of foodstuffs to the US army in Iraq, also said it was quitting after two of its drivers were kidnapped.

Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said Wednesday's declaration "wanted to send a clear signal" to kidnappers that their demands will not be met.

Of the 31 countries currently taking part in the coalition in Iraq, four of them, Britain, Italy, Ukraine and Poland, make up three-quarters of the non-US troops in the country.