Hostage in Iraq not Filipino: official

Initial investigations showed that the hostage who was reportedly kidnapped by gunmen in Iraq is not a Filipino, the Philippine Department of Labor and Employment said Thursday.

Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas said that the name released by the Arabic television network Al-Jazeera, Hafidh Amer, was not that of an overseas Filipino worker.

The secretary said that her office had instructed the labor attachs in Iraq and other Middle East countries and the principals or employers who deployed Filipinos to the region to confirm the name of the hostage.

But the department told Xinhua that they are still verifying the initial conclusion.

Al-Jazeera broadcast earlier on Thursday a footage showing that three masked gunmen claimed to have seized a Filipino, dressed in an orange jumpsuit.

The group, calling itself the "Khaled Ibn al-Walid Brigade" linked to the "Islamic Army in Iraq," threatened to kill the hostage if the Philippine government does not pull out its troops from Iraq in 72 hours.

The Philippines, which has been firm alliance with the United States in Iraq reconstruction operations, insisted that its humanitarian contingents stay in Iraq even after several Filipinos were killed in separate attacks there.

The Philippine Department of Labor and Employment earlier said that it was set to lift the ban on deployment of Filipino workers in Iraq and send 1,500 workers there.

But in light of the hostage reports, the government Thursday ordered an immediately halt to the deployment of overseas Filipino workers to Iraq.

Source: Xinhua