Group abducts foreign truckers

Three U.S. allies rejected threats to withdraw their troops.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- A militant group said today it had taken six more hostages -- three Indians, two Kenyans and an Egyptian -- and would behead them if their countries did not immediately announce their intention to withdraw their citizens from Iraq.
In a statement given to The Associated Press, the group, calling itself The Holders of the Black Banners, said it had abducted the six truckers and would behead one of them every 72 hours if their nations did not pull out of Iraq and the company they work for did not close its branch here. The deadline starts from 8 p.m. (noon EDT) today, it said.
"We have warned all the countries, companies, businessmen and truck drivers that those who deal with American cowboy occupiers will be targeted by the fires of the Mujahedeen," the statement said. "Here you are once again transporting goods, weapons and military equipment that backs the U.S. Army."
None of those countries whose citizens is among the new captives is part of the 160,000-member coalition force in Iraq.
Hostage released
The statement came a day after militants released Filipino hostage Angelo dela Cruz, whose country gave in to his captors' demands and pulled its 51-member force out of Iraq.
Iraqi and U.S. officials expressed concerns that the Philippine pullout would embolden militants to take more hostages in an effort to drive a wedge between coalition countries and force trucking companies and other contractors to leave Iraq.
More than 60 foreigners have been taken hostage in Iraq in recent months.
In photos provided to AP with the statement, six of the hostages are shown standing behind three seated, masked gunmen. One of the hostages holds a paper with the typed names of seven men -- presumably six of them were the hostages -- their nationalities, passport numbers and the registration numbers of the trucks they were driving. The paper is stamped July 20, and the words "Universal Services" were handwritten on top.
The names on the paper were Ibrahim Khamis from Kenya, Salm Faiz Khamis from Kenya, Jalal Awadh from Kenya, Antaryami from India, Tilak Raj from India, Sukdev Singh from India and Mohammed Ali Sanad from Egypt. It was not clear which of the Kenyans listed on the paper was not among the hostages.
From the statement, the trucking company that employed the men appeared to be based in Kuwait.
Threats rejected
Meanwhile, U.S. allies Poland, Japan and Bulgaria today rejected threats of new attacks by militants if they don't pull their troops out of Iraq.
The same group that kidnapped dela Cruz, the Khaled bin al-Waleed Corps, took aim at Japan. In the posting, the group said it was the military wing of Tawhid and Jihad, led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
"To the government of Japan: Do what the Philippines has done. By God, nobody will protect you, and we are not going to tolerate anybody," said a statement signed by the group. "Lines of cars laden with explosives are awaiting you; we will not stop, God willing."
Officials respond
A Foreign Ministry official in Japan said today that Tokyo would not pull its 500 troops, sent here for medical and reconstruction duty. Japan refused in April to withdraw after three Japanese were kidnapped by Iraqi insurgents. They were released unharmed.
"Japan is in Iraq on a humanitarian mission," the official said on condition of anonymity. "The Iraqi people and government are grateful for its efforts."
Likewise, Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov said his country "will not give in to the terrorists' pressure. We will resist."
Meeting the demands to pull out Bulgaria's 480-member infantry battalion would encourage more terrorist acts, Parvanov said on a trip to Berlin.
In Warsaw, Prime Minister Marek Belka said Poland would not consider bringing home its 2,400 troops from Iraq in light of the new threat.
"The decision by the Philippines government only increases the danger for others," Belka said. "It is a very clear example of how when you bow in to the pressure of terrorists you increase the danger to others."
U.S. casualties
In other developments, the U.S. death toll since the start of the war rose to 900 when a roadside bomb killed a soldier north of Baghdad.
Maj. Neal O'Brien of the 1st Infantry Division said the soldier was on patrol in a Bradley fighting vehicle in Duluiyah, 45 miles north of Baghdad, when the bomb detonated shortly after midnight.
On Tuesday, the military said two U.S. Marines and two U.S. soldiers were killed in Anbar Province, a Sunni-dominated area west of Baghdad. The Marines were killed in separate incidents while conducting "security operations"; one soldier was killed Monday, and a second died Monday of wounds.
A count by The Associated Press put the number of American soldiers killed since the war began at 900. Counts of the number of U.S. service members killed in Iraq vary, with some already exceeding the 900 figure. The Pentagon's latest casualty update, released Tuesday before the five deaths, put the death toll at 893 service members, plus two civilian Defense Department employees.
Elsewhere in Iraq, clashes between U.S. forces and insurgents in a residential area near the city of Ramadi killed five Iraqis and wounded 17 others, a hospital official said.
"We received 17 wounded and five dead due to clashes and bombing by American forces," Dr. Mohammed Ali, from Ramadi emergency hospital, told The Associated Press.
Ali said some of the occurred when a U.S. military helicopter attacked a building in the area, near Ramadi 70 miles west of Baghdad.
The U.S. military had no immediate comment.
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