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The Philippine government was given a new deadline to pledge to pull out its troops in Iraq before July 20 for the release of a kidnapped Filipino overseas worker, a local TV reported Monday.
The ABS-CBN news channel said that the extension may reach 24 to 48 hours, which allows a stay of execution of Angelo de la Cruz, a 46-year-old trunk driver working in Iraq for a Saudi-based company.
Citing a news report from al-Arabiya TV, the ABS-CBN said that the Iraqi militants intend to treat de la Cruz as a prisoner of war.
The Arabic television station, al-Jazeera, broadcast earlier last Thursday a footage showing that three masked gunmen claimed to have seized a Filipino, who was identified as de la Cruz.
The group, calling itself the "Khaled Ibn al-Walid Brigade" linked to the "Islamic Army in Iraq," threatened to kill the hostage if the Philippine government will not pull out of its troops in Iraq in 72 hours.
Despite mounting calls from the public to withdraw the 51-man Filipino contingent early to spare the life of de la Cruz, the government vowed to stay its troops in Iraq until their scheduled return next month.
"In line with our commitment to the free people of Iraq, we reiterate our plan to return our humanitarian contingent as scheduled on 20 August, 2004," Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Albert Sunday told a news conference following an emergency cabinet meeting.
She also said that the government would continue to do everything it can to secure the release of de la Cruz and work both through formal and informal channels toward this end.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo earlier sought the intervention of some local and foreign Muslim leaders in convincing the Iraqi militants to release de la Cruz safely.
At the request of the family of de la Cruz, Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas is accompanying the hostage's wife and a brother to the war-torn Middle East country "to be closer to developments on the ground."
"We are extending our utmost support to the (De la Cruz) family during this very critical time," Albert said in a statement.
"We continue to seek the understanding and full cooperation of the media in reporting this live hostage situation," she added.
There were conflicting reports of the hostage's fate late Saturday, with Filipino officials saying that he had been freed, which prompted premature celebrations by his family and friends. But the Iraqi militants denied the report and instead gave Manila a fresh 24-hour deadline to withdraw its troops by July 20 on threat of executing the hostage.
(Xinhua News Agency July 12, 2004)
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