Filipino Hostage Released; Arroyo Defends Iraq Pullout

A Filipino man held captive for two weeks in Iraq was delivered to freedom in a black luxury sedan Tuesday, a day after the last of a small Philippine military contingent left Iraq to prevent his execution. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo earned the displeasure of her chief ally, the United States, for bowing to kidnappers' demands that her country withdraw its 51 troops from Iraq. But she was unrepentant Tuesday, saying the hostage, Angelo de la Cruz, had became a symbol of the 8 million Filipinos who have left their poor country to send home money from hard and sometimes dangerous work abroad. [more]