July 13 (Bloomberg) -- The Philippines will withdraw its troops from Iraq in response to a threat by terrorists to behead a Filipino truck driver, al-Jazeera reported, citing Philippine Deputy Foreign Minister Rafael Sequis as saying in a statement.

The Philippines will remove its ``humanitarian contingent in Iraq as soon as possible,'' al-Jazeera said, citing Sequis's statement. In a phone interview, Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Gilberto Asuque declined to confirm or deny the report carried by the Qatar-based television network.

An Iraqi group called the Khalid Ibn al-Walid Brigade said it will behead Angelo de la Cruz, a 46-year-old father of eight, by today unless the Philippines removes its 50 non-combat soldiers from the country, the network said.

On Sunday, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo said the country wouldn't respond to the group's threat, Al-Jazeera said.

(Al-Jazeera 7-13)

For the Al-Jazeera Web site, see http://english.aljazeera.net/.

To contact the reporters on this story: Danny King in San Francisco at dking19@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 12, 2004 19:07 EDT