Commander of Filipino contingent withdrawn
Hostage appearance on TV, "Wait for me. I'll be back!"
Dubai (AsiaNews/Agencies). The Philippines announced that the commander of its "humanitarian contingent" in Iraq, General Jovito Palparan, and 10 other soldiers will leave the country to attain the release of truck driver Angelo de la Cruz, taken hostage on July 7 by a group calling itself Khaled Ibn al Walid Brigade (linked to the Islamic Army in Iraq).
Yesterday on Al-Jazeera television, Angelo de la Cruz told his family that he would be free. "Wait form me. I'll be back," the man said, wearing a black shirt, in a videotape broadcast by the Qatar-based station.
De la Cruz thanked Filipino president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for heeding his captors' demands to withdraw the contingent from Iraq. Two days ago 8 soldiers had already left reducing the number of troops from 51 to 43.
The US State Department criticised the decision of the Filipino government to withdraw ahead of schedule its troops and police officers from Iraq. Spokesperson Richard Boucher said that the withdrawal sends the "wrong signal" to the terrorists, one of appeasement, at a time when it is important for people to stand up to terrorism, not allow them to change our behaviour."
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