Kidnap forces Filipinos out of Iraq

Rafael Seguis made his announcement on al-Jazeera television through Arabic translators. Mr Seguis said: "In response to your request, the Philippines ... will withdraw its humanitarian forces as soon as possible."

A group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq, which is holding the hostage, has threatened to kill him unless Manila agrees to withdraw its troops by 20 July.

Meanwhile, pledges of European help for the interim government in Iraq were overshadowed yesterday when the Baghdad administration rejected calls for it to abolish the death penalty.

Attending his first meeting of EU ministers in Brussels, the Iraqi Foreign Minister, Hoshiyar Zebari, clashed with his EU counterparts over a request for Iraq to ban capital punishment. Mr Zebari said that, while the abolition of the death penalty was a long-term aspiration, his country's dire security situation meant that the deterrent effect of capital punishment remained necessary.

The future of the death penalty in Iraq is highly sensitive since the EU and the US have starkly different views on capital punishment. Ben Bot, Foreign Minister of the Netherlands which holds the EU presidency, said the Iraqis had been told that "we will not change our opposition to capital punishment".

Although all EU nations, including France, promised to help reconstruction, the ministers made it clear that because of the security situation, they are not yet ready to meet Iraqi calls to open a European Commission office in Baghdad.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=540462

A senior Philippines official has said his troops will leave Iraq "as soon as possible", as a deadline nears for the beheading of a Filipino hostage.
Militants holding Angelo de la Cruz say they will kill him if the Philippines does not speed up a planned withdrawal.

Manila's forces are due to leave by 20 August, but the militants have demanded their departure by 20 July.

The army said it was waiting for orders following comments by Deputy Foreign Minister Rafael Seguis on Arab TV.

Mr Seguis said - in remarks to al-Jazeera television - the troops would leave "swiftly, in the time it takes to carry out the necessary preparation for their return to the Philippines."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3888635.stm

In a sudden reversal of policy, the Philippines government tells Aljazeera it will withdraw its 'humanitarian contingent' from Iraq.

Hoping to dissuade Filipino truck driver Angelo de la Cruz's captors from executing him, and apparently meeting one of their key demands, the Philippines government has promised to withdraw its troops from Iraq.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C4F04B73-3787-4523-97C7-79E8BE890B56.htm