More dawah and bridge-building. "Philippine Officials See Link to Islamic Militants in Bus Explosion," from [1] VOA News, January 26:

Philippine authorities say Tuesday's deadly bomb attack on a passenger bus in Manila has the hallmarks of terrorist attacks in the nation's turbulent south.

Five people were killed and at least 13 others wounded when the bomb ripped apart a bus as it was traveling near Manila's Makati business district. The blast was so powerful it damaged a nearby concrete wall.

Officials say the remotely-detonated improvised bomb used in the attack was similar to those used by Muslim insurgents who have been fighting a decades-long battle for a separate homeland in the southern Philippines, but did not mention any specific group.

No group has claimed responsibility for the Manila attack so far.

Abu Sayyaf, a group linked to al-Qaida, has been linked to terrorist attacks in the region for years. The group has also been blamed for a similar bus bombing in Manila in 2005 on the same road as Tuesday's bombing. Four people were killed in that attack....