Philippines halts Iraq deployment

Baghdad - The Philippines has ordered a halt to further deployment of its troops in Iraq, alarmed by the abduction of a Filipino worker.

A spokesman of the Philippine President Gloria Arroyo said the country's cabinet would meet shortly to discuss the situation.

Aljazeera earlier aired a video tape from a group claiming the capture of a Filipino working for a Saudi company.

The group said the captive's company works with US-led forces in Iraq. It said the man would be killed if the Philippines did not withdraw its forces from Iraq within 72 hours.

It claimed to have killed an Iraqi security guard escorting the Filipino.

The Philippines has about 50 military personnel in Iraq. The video showed three gunmen and a man dressed in an orange jumpsuit kneeling in front of them.

It also showed the identity card of a man named Hafidh

H. Amer, an employee of a security services company, purportedly killed by the group.

A banner behind the men identified the group as the Khalid bin Waleed Corps of the Islamic Army in Iraq, named after an

early Islamic military leader who led a military campaign against Persians and Romans.

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

Aljazeera spokesperson Jihad Ballout said the channel received the tape on Wednesday. -- Al Jazeera

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