A Filipino truck driver held captive in Iraq has been freed and handed over to the United Arab Emirates embassy in Baghdad, an Emirates official said. "He has been handed over and we will hand him over to the Philippine authorities," the official said on Tuesday. Manila ignored criticism from the United States and Iraq's interim government, and completed the withdrawal of its 51-member contingent of troops on Monday in response to demands from the captors. The Philippines ambassador in Baghdad could not be reached, and a source at the embassy said he had heard nothing. **Threat*** Captors threatening to behead Angelo de la Cruz had set a 20 July deadline for Philippine troops to leave Iraq. Dozens of foreigners have been seized since April to press demands for foreign troops to leave Iraq, to deter foreigners from working with US forces or to extract ransoms. Many captives have been freed, including an Egyptian released on Monday, but at least four have been killed. **Basra Official Shot Dead*** A member of the regional council of Basra city has been shot dead along with two bodyguards, a council spokesman said. Hazim Tawfiq al-Ainachi was assassinated at a checkpoint in the southern Iraqi city on Tuesday, he said. "At the checkpoint, there were some people wearing police uniforms who asked the driver to stop. Then they opened fire," the spokesman said, adding that another man in the car was wounded. Al-Ainachi's son, Isam, said: "My father was killed as he was leaving home at about 8am (0400 GMT) when unknown armed men fired at him from near a checkpoint that is 100m from our place." The attack occurred in the Jubaila neighbourhood in the centre of Basra, which is 550km south of Baghdad and the second biggest city in the country. **Coordinator*** Al-Ainachi was a coordinator for the provincial council and a former deputy governor in the city. The killing of al-Ainachi continues a series of attacks against figures in the new administration since power was handed over by the US-led occupation to Iyad Allawi's government on 28 June. On Monday a senior defence ministry official was shot dead in Baghdad, while a week ago the governor of the northern city of Mosul, Usama Kachmula, was killed. **Intermittent*** Though the intensity of violence in Basra has been less than in other parts of Iraq, fighting has occurred intermittently in this city, near Iraq's southern border with Kuwait. In May, US-led occupation forces cracked down on the army of Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr. Hundreds of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army fighters fought running battles with British troops over several days. Also in May, oil exports from Basra's vital terminal were stopped following an attack on a pipeline, two weeks after US-led forces foiled boat attacks on tankers at the terminal. **PHOTO CAPTION*** A British soldier stands guard near the vehicle of Hazim Tawfiq, a member of Basra's city council who was assassinated near his house in central Basra July 20, 2004. (REUTERS)