About 120 Filipinos who were going to work in Iraq were not allowed to board the plane at Manila International Airport, July 8, 2004.  In light of the hostage reports, the government Thursday ordered an immediate halt to the deployment of overseas Filipino workers to Iraq. (Xinhua/AFP Photo) 

    MANILA, July 8 (Xinhuanet) -- The Philippine government Thursday confirmed that the hostage, who was reportedly seized by a group of gunmen in Iraq, is a Filipino.

    Philippine Embassy in Iraq charge d'affaires Ricardo Endaya said that the man, who is a truck driver in a Saudi-based company working in Iraq, was kidnapped near Fallujah with his Iraqi security escort.

    Even before the confirmation, Endaya said that he was 95 percent sure that the foreigner taken hostage by Iraqi gunmen is a Filipino.

    "We are presuming that he is Filipino because if he is beheaded and it turns out that he is a Filipino and we did nothing the repercussions would be big," he said.

    The Arabic television station, al-Jazeera, broadcast earlier on Thursday a footage showing that three masked gunmen, calling itself the "Khaled Ibn al-Walid Brigade" linked to the "Islamic Army in Iraq," threatened to kill the hostage, who was in orange and kneeling in front of them, if the Philippine government will not pull out of its troops in Iraq in 72 hours.

    The Philippine government earlier said that the country will try all to save the hostage's lives if it is confirmed that he is a Filipino.

    However, Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita said that the government will not make a decision until Roy Cimatu, head of the Middle East Preparedness Team which is tasked to look after the welfare of Filipinos in the Middle East, confirms the identity of the hostage.

    Ermita said that it will be up to Cimatu to recommend the pullout of the Filipino contingent in Iraq.

    Cimatu earlier said that if the abducted man was Filipino, the Philippine government would negotiate with the militants in a "low-key way."

    He said he had ordered Philippine diplomatic posts in Kuwait, Jordan and Saudi Arabia to ban Filipino drivers from going to Iraq.     

    The Philippines, which has been firm alliance with the United States in Iraqi reconstruction operations, insisted on keeping its humanitarian contingents 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 deploy 1,500 workers there.

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

    Armed groups in Iraq have seized dozens of foreigners in recent weeks. One group has beheaded two captives, an American and a South Korean. Enditem