- A Filipino truck driver who was held hostage in Iraq
for almost two weeks was today freed, 24 hours after Manila responded to
his captors' threat that, unless the country pulled its troops out of Iraq,
he would be beheaded.
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- The Philippine president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, said
that 46-year-old Angelo dela Cruz was in "high spirits and good health"
after talking to him by telephone, Reuters reported.
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- She defended her decision to pull the 51 Filipino troops
out of Iraq in response to the militants' demands, saying that the father
of eight was innocent and did not deserve to die.
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- The move to withdraw the troops was yesterday criticised
by the US, Australia and the Iraqi government, which said the move would
encourage terrorism.
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- A spokesman for the Iraqi National Congress said Mr Cruz
had been left in front of the United Arab Emirates embassy in Baghdad by
his captors.
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- Mr Cruz's family, who live in the Philippines' Pampanga
province, reacted with joy. "We're quite happy, but we will be happier
when we see our brother with the president," his brother Feliciano
said.
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- Militants kidnapped the truck driver on July 7 and, in
a video showing him surrounded by masked militants, threatened to behead
him.
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- Following days of ambiguous statements, Manila yesterday
pulled its solider and police contingent out of Iraq. The troops had, in
any case, been scheduled to leave the country on August 20.
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- An Egyptian truck driver who had also been held hostage
was last night freed and taken to his country's embassy. Alsayeid Mohammed
Alsayeid Algarabawi was abducted from a truck he had driven from Saudi
Arabia into Iraq.
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- His captors, who called themselves the Iraqi Legitimate
Resistance, never threatened to harm him, but made a series of demands
on his Saudi company, including asking for a $1m (£538,000) ransom
and insisting the company stopped doing business in Iraq.
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- Iraq accuses Iran
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- Iraq's defence minister today warned that the country
was ready to retaliate against nations it accused of supporting the violence
in Iraq.
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- Hazim al-Shaalan accused Iraq's old adversary Iran of
"blatant interference", and Iraq has also previously complained
about guerrilla fighters entering the country from Syria.
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- "We are prepared to move the arena of the attacks
on Iraq's honour and its rights to those countries," he was quoted
as saying by the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, according to Reuters.
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- The comments came as Iraq took its first steps toward
re-engaging with the world less than a month after it officially regained
sovereignty.
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- The foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, announced the appointment
of 43 new ambassadors, who will be sent to countries around the globe,
including almost all Arab nations.
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- "This is the first step in restoring Iraq's diplomatic
representation," Mr Zebari said. "Iraq is an important country
and needs to have as much diplomatic relations as possible with the world."
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- Iraqi councillor shot dead
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- An Iraqi council member who was running for governor
in the southern city of Basra was this morning killed as he left for work,
along with his driver and bodyguard, an Iraqi official said.
-
- Hazim al-Aynachi was pulling out of his driveway at 8am
local time (0600 BST) when gunmen opened fire on his car. Council leader
Abdul Bari Faiyek said another person had been injured, and blamed the
killing on opposition to elections for a local governor.
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- The elections, which had been due to take place today,
were delayed in response to the shooting.
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- It was the latest in a spate of recent attacks by insurgents.
Yesterday, a fuel tanker hurtled toward a Baghdad police station and exploded,
killing nine people and wounding 60.
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- The suicide bombing was the fourth deadly attack on police
and government facilities during the last five days. Since the interim
Iraqi government took power on June 28, at least 75 people have been killed
in attacks.
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- In the holy city of Najaf, Iraqi police discovered a
weapons cache including 230 rockets and 200 mortar shells on Monday, according
to police chief Brigadier Hussein Mohammed.
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- Police also arrested suspected oil smugglers breaching
an oil pipeline connecting the southern and northern oil fields, in Bahr
al-Najaf, 50km (31 miles) west of Najaf, Colonel Mohammed al-Bahash said.
He said three oil tankers had been confiscated.
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- The interim Iraqi prime minister, Ayad Allawi, has promised
to crack down on insurgents and restore security. During his first foreign
visit since taking office, Mr Allawi thanked Jordan's King Abdullah for
helping to train thousands of Iraqi troops.
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- British pilot crash victim named
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- A British pilot who died in a helicopter crash in Iraq
yesterday was today named by the Ministry of Defence.
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- Flight Lieutenant Kristian Michel Alexander Gover, who
was 30, died when his Puma helicopter came down at Basra airport.
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- The MoD said the exact circumstances of what had happened
were still unclear, but it was believed the crash had happened at a low
altitude. The defence secretary, Geoff Hoon, said it appeared "unlikely"
that the aircraft was brought down by hostile action.
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- Flt Lt Gover was based with 33 Squadron at RAF Benson,
in Oxfordshire. His death brings to 61 the number of British personnel
killed since the start of the conflict in Iraq.
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- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2004 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1265205,00.html
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