Philippine Envoy to Indonesia Hurt in Blast
The Philippine ambassador narrowly escaped assassination Tuesday when a bomb blew apart his car. Indonesia’s president blamed Philippine Muslim separatists for the attack, which killed two people and injured at least 22.
The Philippines’ largest Islamic rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, quickly denied responsibility for the blast, which scattered shrapnel and debris for hundreds of yards in a neighborhood of diplomatic residences and government offices just a block from the homes of the U.S. ambassador and Indonesia’s vice president.
Philippine Ambassador Leonides Caday was conscious but bleeding profusely when passersby pulled him from the back seat of his Mercedes-Benz. He was taken to a hospital in the back of a truck. His chauffeur was in critical condition.
The Philippine Embassy said the ambassador sustained head, hand and leg injuries but was “out of danger.” Hospital officials said he underwent surgery for his wounds.
Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid was quick to pin the attack on a Muslim insurgency in the southern Philippines and not ethnic and separatist violence or political turmoil in Indonesia.
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