A civilian employed by a company of contractors has become the first Filipino to be killed in Iraq, President Gloria Arroyo said, vowing the incident would not cause her to pullout troops from the occupied Arab country.
Arroyo condemned the "terrorist" attack but pledged to keep the country's 3,000 civilian workers, 43 Filipino soldiers and eight policemen in Iraq.
The victim drove a truck for a Kuwait-based company, AFP reported. The foreign Ministry in Manila said two unidentified Ukrainians were also killed in the attack.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Julia Heidemann told reporters the man was killed Thursday when a 50-vehicle convoy that delivered supplies into Iraq for US contractor Kellogg Brown and Root was attacked by Iraqi fighters while on its way back to Kuwait.
Meanwhile, Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr told worshippers at Friday prayers that he will not accept calls to tone down his anti-American rhetoric, adding that "America is the enemy of Islam and Muslims, and jihad is the path of my ancestors."
Al-Sadr made the speech at a mosque in the Iraqi city of Kufa. U.S. forces have surrounded Najaf, where al-Sadr is based.
In his address, al-Sadr said: "Some people have asked me to tone down my words and to avoid escalation with the Americans. My response is that I reject any appeasement with the occupation and I will not give up defending the rights of the believers. America is the enemy of Islam and Muslims and jihad is the path of my ancestors." (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
