US Secretary of State Colin Powell urged allies in Iraq not to bow to guerrillas waging a campaign of hostage-taking and bombing as an attack wounded 14 foreign soldiers in Baghdad on Tuesday. Insurgents bent on undermining Iraq's interim government fired several mortar rounds in the capital just after dawn, killing an Iraqi civilian and wounding 14 foreign soldiers.
Guerrillas have snatched a dozen foreigners in the past week and threatened to kill them, piling pressure on foreign forces and firms to leave Iraq as a 15-month insurgency shows no sign of abating.
Among them was an Egyptian diplomat - released overnight having been seized as he left a Baghdad mosque last Friday - who said his captors had apologised and given him gifts when they freed him. Speaking on a visit to Hungary, which has sent 300 troops to Iraq, Powell called on allies to stay the course.
"Democracy is hard. Democracy is dangerous. And this is the time for us to be steadfast, not get weak in the knees," Powell said in a Hungarian television interview at the start of a week- long tour of Europe and the Middle East.
"We must not allow insurgents, those who will use bombs and kidnapping and beheadings, to triumph."
The United States has insisted its troop coalition in Iraq was strong despite the departure last week of the Philippines, which pulled out to save the life of a Filipino hostage. It joined Spain, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Honduras as nations that have left what was once a 34-member coalition.
Hostages from India, Kenya, Egypt, Pakistan and Jordan, mainly truck drivers, have been seized in the past week.
The United States, Australia and Iraqi officials have accused Manila of encouraging more abductions with its pull-out.
Egyptian diplomat Mohamed Mamdouh Qutb, the number three in Egypt's embassy, said he was taken because his captors had objected to Cairo hosting a visit last week by interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
"At the beginning they threatened to kill me. But later they apologised and at the end they gave me a string of prayer beads and a dagger as presents," Qutb told Reuters.
"I think it was a vivid experience," he said. "I just hope it doesn't happen again."
Insurgents fired several mortars in Baghdad near the Green Zone compound that houses the interim government and the US embassy. The area is regularly targeted by guerrillas.
AUSTRALIA REFUSES TO APOLOGISE: Dozens of foreigners have been taken hostage since April. Some have been freed, but at least six have been killed by their captors, four of them by beheading.
Three Indians, three Kenyans and an Egyptian were taken hostage in one group. Other hostages include two Pakistanis and two Jordanians.
Nearly two dozen countries have had to deal with kidnappings since April. Their dilemmas have sparked some testy exchanges with the United States and its allies, especially Australia.
The Australian government refused to apologise to Spain and the Philippines on Tuesday after blaming them for encouraging militants to issue threats by withdrawing troops from Iraq.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said both countries needed "to face up to the truth" that they were being exploited.
Spain summoned Australia's ambassador in Madrid on Monday to protest at Downer's comments over the past two days.
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