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Thai, Filipino Troops Start Pullout From Iraq
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Philippine soldiers stand outside the Philippine embassy in Baghdad, ready to return home
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BAGHDAD, July 16 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The Philippines
and
Thailand
started withdrawing their troops from
Iraq
Friday, July 16, as a Saudi transport company said it had left the
turbulent country to save the life of an Egyptian employee truck
driver taken hostage there.
Diplomats
in
Baghdad
, meanwhile, said a headless corpse found in the
Tigris
River
was probably that of a Bulgarian hostage killed by his captors who had
demanded for the release of all detainees in the country.
Speaking
in a televised broadcast, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia
Albert said all of
Manila
's small force in
Iraq
would leave soon.
"The
Philippine government has recalled the head of the Philippine
humanitarian contingent in
Iraq
. He is leaving
Iraq
today with 10 members of the Philippine humanitarian contingent,"
Albert was quoted by Reuters as saying.
In
Baghdad
, a source with knowledge of the pullout said the 10 soldiers and
their commander had left the Philippine Embassy in the Iraqi capital
early Friday for Hilla in south-central
Iraq
, where the contingent is based.
The
withdrawal comes as another disappointment to the
United States
, which had tried to persuade its Asian ally not to cave in to the
fighters who have threatened to kill Filipino truck driver Angelo de
la Cruz.
De
la Cruz told his family in a videotaped message he would be returning
home, Arabic channel Al-Jazeera said Thursday.
But
the group holding the father of eight said it would only free him
after
Manila
withdrew its last soldier.
Protests
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Protestors call on the Philippine government to take the withdraw troops from Iraq (AFP) |
The
Philippine decision followed
Spain
, the
Dominican Republic
,
Nicaragua
and
Honduras
in pulling out of the chaos-hit country.
Fears
of massive street protests and an outcry from the
Philippines
' huge overseas workforce drove President Gloria Arroyo to bend to
demands to pull troops from
Iraq
to save the life of a hostage, analysts said after the withdrawal
decision.
On
Friday, protesters burnt an anti-US placard in a demonstration near
the US Embassy in
Manila
to denounce the
US
invasion-turned-occupation of
Iraq
and demand the pull out of Philippine troops to save the life of the
Filipino hostage.
The
Asian country is now bracing for the potential economic fallout of
Arroyo's decision.
Washington
is
Manila
's main trade partner, key aid donor and main supplier of its military
equipment.
Foreign
diplomats said Arroyo's long-term task would be to repair ties with
the
United States
and other allies alienated by her decision.
Thai
troops Start Pullout
In
another related move,
Thailand
has started its withdrawal of troops from
Iraq
which will be completed by September 20 as planned, the Defense
Minister said Friday.
"We
have started withdrawal procedures... and I expect our last soldier
would arrive home on September 20," Defense Minister Chettha
Thanajaro told reporters.
Thailand
sent a 451-strong contingent of troops to
Iraq
and the one-year deployment had been due to end in late September.
But
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan asked the government this week to
delay its departure because of the ongoing security crisis in
Iraq
.
Apparently,
his call did not have the desired effect.
Saving
Another Hostage
This
came as a Saudi transport company said it had pulled out of
Iraq
to save the life of an Egyptian truck driver taken hostage by
kidnappers who demanded the firm had to leave the country.
"We
no longer have vehicles in
Iraq
. All our vehicles were pulled out of
Iraq
Wednesday, July 14, to ensure the safety of the hostage," the
firm said in a statement sent to Al-Jazeera.
The
company provides trucks and drivers to the Saudi Al-Jari transport
company, which is licensed to ferry oil shipments to
Iraq
through the Arar border crossing.
A
group holding Sayed Mohammed Sayed Al-Garabawi issued a statement late
Thursday, July 15, giving the Saudi employers an extra 48 hours to
leave the country and spare his life.
The
company has been granted "a further extension of 48 hours to make
sure its decision to leave
Iraq
", said the statement attributed to the group and broadcast on
Al-Jazeera.
Bulgaria
, for its part, watched a deadline for the execution of a second
Bulgarian hostage held by his captors pass without news Wednesday,
July 14, but refused to pull out its troops.
The
headless body pulled out of the
Tigris
south of the city of
Mosul
Wednesday night was wearing an orange jumpsuit, similar to those in
which several hostages have been dressed in other video tapes.
The
jumpsuits are typical of
U.S.
jails and associated around the world with those worn by prisoners at
Guantanamo
Bay
, where the
US
was accused of committing human rights violations.
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