DUBAI (Reuters) - A militant group led by suspected al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi have killed a Bulgarian hostage and vowed to execute a second Bulgarian it was holding within 24 hours, Al Jazeera reported on Tuesday.
The Arabic satellite television station said the group had issued a video tape of the execution but did not broadcast it.
Al Jazeera showed footage, however, of three masked men with one of the Bulgarians kneeling before them in a blindfold and orange jumpsuit.
Zarqawi’s group threatened last Thursday to kill the Bulgarians within 24 hours unless the United States released imprisoned Iraqis.
Bulgaria had said earlier on Tuesday the two hostages, both truck drivers, were still alive but that concerns for their rescue were mounting.
Sofia had appealed to the militants to release Georgi Lazov, 30, and Ivailo Kepov, 32 – who were transporting cars from Bulgaria to Mosul in northern Iraq when they disappeared on June 27 – saying they were simple workers, not political people.
The group has already claimed responsibility for the beheading of an American and a South Korean in Iraq.
Bulgaria has 470 troops based in the southern Iraqi city of Karbala as part of U.S.-led forces and said they will stay as long as they are needed.
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