Blasts kill at least 15 in Baghdad
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Two nearly simultaneous explosions ripped through a popular restaurant and an adjoining cafe Thursday afternoon, killing at least 15, while the deadline for the execution of a kidnapped journalist approached with no new word from her captors.
Just before 3 p.m. a parked car exploded on Saadoun Street, Baghdad’s main commercial boulevard, in front of the popular Madhaaq restaurant where patrons dine behind an expanse of windows with a view of the street.
The blast occurred just as a police convoy passed. At almost the same time a suicide bomber walked into a popular tea shop just around the corner and exploded his belt there.
A spokesman for the police said 15 were killed, including three police, and 46 wounded. The injured were treated at three Baghdad hospitals.
The bombers eluded heightened security that has been ordered in anticipation of the release as early as today of final tallies in the Dec. 15 parliamentary election. U.S. military officials had said earlier this month they expected a surge in violent attacks.
Also Thursday, the mother of Christian Science Monitor correspondent Jill Carroll made an impassioned plea for her daughter’s release. Carroll was abducted and her translator killed Jan. 7. Her kidnappers said Tuesday in a statement read over Al-Jazeera television that Carroll would be killed today unless all women detained by U.S. authorities were released.
Appearing calm and composed, Mary Beth Carroll in a CNN interview appealed to the captors’ sense of responsibility and respect. She said that the kidnappers “picked the wrong person” because her daughter “has worked so hard to show the sufferings of Iraqis to the world.”
“Jill has always shown the highest respect for the Iraqi people and their customs,” Mary Beth Carroll said. “We hope that her captors will show Jill the same respect in return. Taking vengeance on my innocent daughter, who loves Iraq and its people, will not create justice.”
She added: “To her captors, I say that Jill’s welfare depends upon you. And so we call upon you to ensure that Jill is returned safely home to her family who needs her and loves her.”
The U.S. military Thursday disputed a report by Iraqi officials that six women would soon be released from U.S. detention.
“There is no specific indication that we’re going to release any individual female, particularly in response to a demand by a terrorist or a criminal,” Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch said at a briefing Thursday.