BAGHDAD, Aug 2 (AFP) - Hooded gunmen executed a Turkish cleaner kidnapped in Iraq, in a video posted Monday on Islamic websites, as Iraqi leaders called on Christians and Muslims to stand united after a string of church bombings.
In the spine-chilling footage, Murat Yuce was shown being blindfolded and shot three times in the head by his hooded kidnappers.
News of the execution by a group linked to suspected Al-Qaeda operative Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi prompted a major Turkish truckers` organisation to announce it would stop ferrying goods to US forces in Iraq.
A Turkish foreign ministry official said Yuce had been kidnapped by Zarqawi`s group, Tawhid wal Jihad (Unification and Holy War).
Iraq`s interim leaders, meanwhile, accused the alleged Al-Qaeda operative Zarqawi of plotting Sunday`s deadly series of church bombings in a crude attempt to incite religious hatred.
At least 10 people were killed and some 50 wounded when six bombs blew up outside four churches in Baghdad and another in the northern city of Mosul during evening mass.
It was an unprecedented assault on Iraq`s 700,000 Christians, who have traditionally lived in peace with the overwhelming Muslim majority.
As survivors counted the cost of the destruction, the interim government`s national security adviser Muwaffaq al-Rubaie blamed the mayhem on Iraq`s most-wanted militant, who has a 25-million-dollar US bounty on his head.
"We have basically all the blueprint that indicates that Zarqawi and his gangsters were responsible," Rubaie told AFP.
"His motive is to drive a wedge between the Muslim and Christian community in Iraq," he added, vowing an immediate set of heightened security measures to protect the Christian minority.
"At least one suicide bomber" was involved and police defused two other car bombs in Baghdad, Rubaie said.
Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawar condemned the attacks as "terrorist explosions" and called for Iraqis to "stand shoulder to shoulder against those who kill our brothers".
"The unity of our people across history will not be defeated by the dirty hands of terrorists," said Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the country`s most revered Shiite Muslim spiritual leader, reached across the confessional divide to denounce a "criminal campaign targeting Iraq`s unity, stability and independence".
A spokesman for radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, who waged a deadly revolt against US-led occupation forces earlier this year, also condemned the attacks as a calculated "terrorist" bid to stir up inter-communal strife.
Pope John Paul II condemned the "unjust attacks", in a message to the patriarch of the Iraqi Chaldean church, Emmanuel Delly.
The pontiff "vehemently deplores the unjust attacks on those who are only looking for peace and reconciliation in Iraq," said Vatican spokesman Ciro Benedettini, reading from the pope`s message.
On the military front, Pakistan said it would not send troops to Iraq under the present "volatile and unstable" situation, after being criticised for not ruling out a deployment in time to save the lives of two Pakistani hostages.
"We are not sending troops under the present circumstances," foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan said.
Pakistan had earlier said it would consider sending troops to the war-ravaged country only if a request came from the people of Iraq and was backed by the United Nations.
"There is no commitment whatsoever on troops deployment. The situation there is volatile and unstable ... it does not make any sense," Khan said.
Two migrant workers from a poor village in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir were killed last week after their armed captors alleged they were spying for the United States and that Pakistan was planning to deploy troops in Iraq.
Iran, meanwhile, said a Saudi initiative to send troops from Arab and Islamic states to Iraq was "not appropriate".
"Since Iraq is currently under occupation, we do not consider sending troops there to be an appropriate measure," government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh said.
In South Korea, hundreds of anti-war activists rallied outside a military camp demanding Seoul cancel the planned dispatch of troops to Iraq.
South Korea is to start deploying some 3,000 troops from August to Kurdish northern Iraq, where the security situation is calm. The contingent of mostly non-combatants will be the third largest in the US-led multinational force.
The beheading of Kim Sun-Il, a 33 year-old South Korean citizen, by Islamic militants in June fuelled anti-war protests.
Ukraine, meanwhile, made another strong hint Monday that it planned to reduce or withdraw its 1,600 troops from Iraq, although the immediate date for the decision remained unclear.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, quoted by the Interfax news agency, said he planned to discuss the politically charged issue with the republic`s security council.
"Concerning Iraq, we need to make a decision to limit our contingent, and I will raise this question" during the meeting, he said.
After confusion over their fate on Sunday, India said an Iraqi mediator had resumed negotiations to secure the release of three Indians, three Kenyans and an Egyptian being held hostage by insurgents in Iraq.
Junior Foreign Minister E. Ahamed told reporters that Sheikh Hisham al-Dulaimi, the go-between, and the Kuwaiti firm which employs the seven truck drivers had resumed talks.
He said India hoped the talks would reach "a successful conclusion," adding: "But we have to remain patient."
Elsewhere in Asia, labour officials in Manila said the Philippines stood to lose as much as 100 million dollars in remittances due to a continued ban on Filipinos working in Iraq.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration said at least 6,000 jobs reserved for Filipinos remain vacant after Manila imposed the ban last month when truck driver Angelo de la Cruz was abducted by Iraqi militants.
De la Cruz, a father of eight, was subsequently freed after the Philippines pulled its troops out of Iraq earlier than planned, as demanded by his captors, drawing criticism from the United States and Australia.