Bulgaria, Phillipines refuse to bow to kidnappers' demands

Bulgaria and the Philippines insisted today they would not be cowed by terrorists after insurgents captured and threatened to kill their nationals in Iraq, the latest hostage takings in the country.

In what has become familiar imagery, video broadcast earlier in the day on the pan-Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera showed two Bulgarians before three masked men, two carrying rifles and one carrying a rocket propelled grenade launcher.

A videotape of the Filipino was shown on Wednesday, also on Al-Jazeera.

A group loyal to insurgency leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi threatened to kill the two Bulgarians if the US military did not release all Iraqi detainees within 24 hours. The Philippines was told to withdraw its troops within three days, a deadline that expires over the weekend.

Philippines Vice President Noli de Castro said the government “will not be cowed and be blackmailed by acts of terrorism.”

In the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, Foreign Minister Solomon Pasi said Bulgarian and US officials were in contact and that “Bulgaria’s foreign policy was clear and predictable and there is no way to change it because of one or another group”,

Bulgaria “will do everything possible to defend its nationals,” he said without elaborating.

The kidnappings were yet another bid to pressure the United States’ coalition allies. Al-Zarqawi’s Tawhid and Jihad group 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 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.

Also today, Pakistan announced that Iraqi insurgents freed a Pakistani hostage they had threatened to behead unless Islamabad closed its embassy in Iraq and ordered all its citizens home.