Bulgaria not to change stance over Iraq kidnapping: FM

Two Bulgarians were kidnapped by militants in Iraq, July 9, 2004.(Xinhua/AFP Photo) 

  ¡¡SOFIA, July 9 (Xinhuanet) -- Bulgaria will not change its stance after two of its nationals were kidnapped by militants in Iraq, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy said Friday.

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

    The hostage-takers threatened on Thursday to execute two Bulgarian hostages if the US military did not release all Iraqi detainees within 24 hours, the Arabian Al-Jazeera television station reported.

    The Tawhid and Jihad group, which is accused of Al Qaeda-link by the United States, sent a videotape to the television station to announce the threat.

    The two Bulgarian hostages have been identified by the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry as civilian truck drivers Ivaylo Kepov and Georgi Lazov.

    The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry conveyed an emergency meeting Thursday night on the hostage-taking. It also warned its nationals not to travel to Iraq.

    Bulgaria has received no demand from the hostage-takers for a pullout of the 470 Bulgarian troops based in the southern Iraqi city of Karbala.

    The two drivers, who worked for a Bulgarian freight company, arrived in Iraq in mid-June. They last contacted their company on June 28. They were kidnapped on Thursday as they were en route to the Iraqi city of Mosul.

    The Tawhid and Jihad group previously claimed responsibility for the beheading of US businessman Nicholas Berg and South Korean translator Kim Sun-il. Enditem