The Bulgarian government confirmed Tuesday that militants had killed one of two Bulgarian truck drivers held hostage in Iraq.

"I can confirm that one of the Bulgarians has been executed," said government spokesman Dimitar Tsonev. But he said they do not have information about which one of the two was killed.

The pan-Arab Al-Jazeera TV channel said Tuesday that it received a video tape showing the execution of the Bulgarian hostage and the captors threatened to kill the second within 24 hours if the United States refused to release all Iraqi detainees.

Bulgaria, a close ally of the United States on Iraq, had made desperate diplomatic efforts to save the two men since militants threatened Thursday to kill them within 24 hours unless the United States released imprisoned Iraqis.

Bulgaria had appealed to the kidnappers to release Georgi Lazov, 30, and Ivailo Kepov, 32, who were transporting cars from Bulgariato the city of Mosul when they disappeared on June 27.

The Bulgarian foreign minister declared Saturday that a diplomatic mission had left for Iraq to coordinate efforts to free the two hostages, vowing not to change its foreign policy in response to the kidnapping.

The kidnappers reportedly belong to the Tawhid and Jihad group, which is accused of having links with the al-Qaida terrorist network by the United States.

Meanwhile, in a similar hostage crisis, militants threatened to kill a Philippine hostage unless Manila withdraws its 51-strong troops from Iraq before July 20.

Manila softened its stance Tuesday, saying it is ready to pull out troops as soon as possible.

(Xinhua News Agency July 14, 2004)