Bulgaria firm over hostage threat

The gunmen have threatened to execute the Bulgarians

Bulgaria has vowed it will not change its policies on Iraq after two of its nationals were taken hostage by militants and threatened with death.

An Islamic militant group says it will kill the men if Iraqi prisoners are not freed in 24 hours, al-Jazeera TV said.

A Filipino was taken hostage earlier and threatened with death unless his country pulls troops out in 72 hours.

Meanwhile a Lebanese-born US marine allegedly kidnapped in Iraq resurfaced in Beirut, US officials confirmed.

A video tape aired on al-Jazeera showed two men with their hands tied, flanked by three gunmen. Bulgaria has identified the two hostages as civilian truck drivers.

Al-Jazeera said the video tape came from the al-Tawhid and Jihad Group, believed to be headed by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who has been accused by the US of links to Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

The group is believed to have carried out the beheadings of two hostages in Iraq - American Nick Berg and South Korean Kim Sun-il.

HOSTAGES KILLED 14 April: Fabrizio Quattrocchi, 36, Italian security guard is shot dead 11 May: Nick Berg, 26, US businessman is beheaded 22 June: Kim Sun-il, 33, South Korean translator is beheaded 29 June: Keith Maupin, 20, US soldier is reportedly killed (not confirmed)

But the Bulgarian government has said it will not be swayed by the threat to kill the hostages - two civilian truck drivers identified as Ivaylo Kepov and Georgi Lazov.

"Bulgaria is a stable state with a predictable foreign policy and we cannot expect it would change its foreign policy because of one or another group," Foreign Minister Solomon Passy told state radio.

Bulgaria has a 485-member battalion in Iraq, which serves alongside Ukrainian troops under Polish command.

Foreign hostages

In the Philippines, the family of a Filipino worker taken hostage in Iraq has appealed to the president to meet the demands of the hostage-takers and withdraw troops from Iraq.

In another video tape broadcast on al-Jazeera, three armed, masked men were seen standing behind the seated hostage, threatening to kill him if the 51-strong contingent of Philippine troops were not pulled out within three days.

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo has banned any more Filipinos from going to work in Iraq in response to the incident.

Mrs Arroyo said she was doing everything possible to secure the release of the hostage, identified as Saudi Arabia-based truck driver Angelo de la Cruz, 46.

The president has not announced a decision on whether to extend the deployment of Filipino troops beyond their scheduled departure date later this month.

The hostage's family has made an emotional appeal on television for the president to give in to the hostage-takers demands.

"Please pull out so he can be safe with us," the hostage's 15-year-old son said in an interview.

"I appeal to our president, Madame Gloria, please help us. The thing they are asking, let our government give a decision soon."

The hostage-takers were seen standing in front of a banner saying Islamic Army - the Khaled bin al-Waleed corps. It has not been heard of previously.

Investigation

Meanwhile, a Lebanese-born US marine who was allegedly kidnapped in Iraq, has turned up in the US embassy in Beirut.

Cpl Wassef Ali Hassoun's disappearance has been mired in confusion - last weekend he was reported to have been beheaded by his Islamist captors.

Cpl Hassoun, who joined the US military after emigrating to the US from Lebanon four years ago, had been missing from his unit in Iraq since 21 June.

The Pentagon said investigators were looking into the circumstances of his captivity.