Philippines Says It Will Hurry Pullout

The Manila government said Monday that it would withdraw its troops from Iraq “as soon as possible” to save a Philippine hostage whom kidnappers have threatened to kill.

But it remained unclear whether the Philippines would withdraw its humanitarian mission before the scheduled date of Aug. 20. The abductors have demanded that Manila agree to withdraw its forces by July 20.

Shortly after the expiration of a new Monday execution deadline set by the militants, Al Jazeera TV broadcast footage of Rafael Seguis, Philippine deputy foreign secretary, reading a statement that was translated into Arabic.

“In response to your request, the Philippines ... will withdraw its humanitarian forces as soon as possible,” Seguis said in the statement addressed to the so-called Iraqi Islamic Army-Khaled bin Waleed Corps, the group that is holding 46-year-old Angelo de la Cruz.

When questioned by a newscaster about the pullout date, Seguis, who was in Baghdad because of the kidnapping, said a withdrawal would come according to the government’s commitments. As recently as a day earlier, Philippine officials had restated that the nation would honor its troop commitment through Aug. 20, but that date was not mentioned Monday.

The group holding the hostage had extended a previous execution deadline. Philippine officials said Sunday that the extension would last 48 hours, but the kidnappers said Monday that it was only 24.

Al Jazeera, showing a letter it said it had received from the militants, reported earlier that De la Cruz had been moved “to the place of implementing the punishment.”

It showed brief footage of a videotape in which it said that De la Cruz appealed to Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to swiftly withdraw troops from Iraq so he could return to his family alive. De la Cruz was standing in front of masked captors holding automatic weapons.

CNN quoted unidentified Philippine officials as saying they expected De la Cruz to be released Tuesday, but no independent confirmation was available.

Militants have seized dozens of foreigners since April to press demands for foreign troops to leave. Many hostages have been freed, but at least three have been killed.

Bulgaria said it was still confident that two of its nationals held hostage in Iraq were alive despite the expiration of an execution deadline Friday.

As the talks went on, European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels told their Iraqi counterpart Monday that they were ready to help rebuild his country by providing money and other aid.

In a draft statement, the 25 EU foreign ministers agreed to send a scouting mission to Iraq “as long as conditions allow it” to determine the best way for the EU to promote democracy and human rights.