BAGHDAD, July 20: A Filipino truck driver held hostage in Iraq for two weeks was freed unhurt on Tuesday _ a day after Manila withdrew its troops in response to demands from kidnappers who had threatened to behead him.

The United States, Australia and Iraq's interim government have accused Manila of caving in to terrorists, but Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo defended the decision and said the father of eight did not deserve to die.

The kidnappers of Filipino Angelo de la Cruz dropped him at the United Arab Emirates embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday morning. He was taken to the Philippine embassy, where he looked tired and occasionally brushed away tears, television pictures showed.

Wearing a polo shirt, trousers and plastic sandals, de la Cruz spoke to his wife and President Arroyo by telephone. He also ate a meal of noodles with Philippine embassy staff.

Ms Arroyo said she had decided to withdraw a small military contingent early because of the importance of looking after some eight million Filipino workers abroad. Militants threatening to behead de la Cruz had set a July 20 deadline for Philippine troops to leave Iraq. They had been previously due to depart on Aug 20.

A source at the UAE embassy quoted de la Cruz, who was first reported captured on July 7, as saying the kidnappers told him to go inside the building and ask for help. "We were really surprised to see him here," the source said.

De la Cruz told his wife Arsenia in a televised telephone call that he was not mistreated. A tearful Arsenia, who had spent an anxious week in the Jordanian capital Amman, thanked the kidnappers for not harming her husband.

US MILITARY DISAPPOINTED: The United States has said its "coalition" remains strong despite the Philippine decision to follow Spain, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Honduras in pulling out.