Attack on Philippine envoy kills two

The Philippine ambassador to Indonesia has been injured in a bomb attack outside his residence in Jakarta, in which two other people were killed.

The powerful explosion wrecked his car as it arrived at the building: television pictures showed the ambassador bleeding as he was lifted out by passers-by.

He is now in a stable condition in hospital, with head and other injuries.

His driver was also badly wounded.

The two people killed were a security guard and a woman at a nearby kiosk; about twenty others were hurt.

The Indonesian president, Abdurrahman Wahid, said he believed the attack was linked to instability in the southern Philippines where several Muslim separatist groups operate.

But the biggest of them -- the Moro Islamic Liberation Front -- denied involvement and the Philippine government said no other group had claimed responsibility.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service