BAGHDAD, July 13 (UPI) -- A Bulgarian truck driver taken hostage in Iraq has reportedly been executed by his kidnappers.
In a videotape sent to al-Jazeera, members of Al-Tawhid wa Al-Jihad said they had executed one of the two Bulgarians captives seized last week, the Arab TV satellite network said on its Web site. The group is believed to be headed by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a suspected ally of Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaida network, the BBC said.
The captors threatened to kill a second Bulgarian within the next 24 hours.
Ivailo Kepov and Georgi Lazov were taken hostage Friday and their captors had threatened to kill them unless the U.S. military in Iraq released all Iraqi detainees, al-Jazeera said.
The deadline was extended several times as Bulgarian authorities tried to negotiate the captives' release.
The identity of the hostage believed killed was not immediately known.
