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Iraq

Two fatal bombings strike downtown Baghdad

BAGHDAD - Two near-simultaneous bombings targeted a crowded downtown Baghdad coffee shop and a nearby restaurant Thursday, killing more than a dozen people. The attacks came as a foreign assessment team reported evidence of fraud in the Dec. 15 elections but did not endorse calls for a rerun.

The bombings occurred despite government moves to heighten security as the election commission prepares to announce the election results. The announcement, which could come today, sets the stage for talks on a new national unity government that U.S. officials hope will help calm the insurgency and enable the United States to begin withdrawing its 140,000 troops.

The first explosion occurred at a coffee shop on bustling Saadoun Street in the heart of Baghdad. Seconds later, a blast caused by a planted bomb rocked a restaurant just down the street.

Some officials said the first blast was triggered by a suicide attacker wearing an explosive vest, while others insisted both were caused by bombs detonated by remote control.

Officials variously reported the death toll between 13 and 25. Police Lt. Osama Mohammed blamed the confusion on miscounting of bodies because the blast sites were so close.

The mother of abducted American Jill Carroll, meanwhile, appealed for her daughter's release. Her captors have threatened to kill the journalist unless U.S. authorities release all Iraqi women in military custody by tonight. Muslim leaders in Iraq and elsewhere joined in the appeal.

Mary Beth Carroll, speaking on CNN on Thursday, said video images of her daughter in captivity, aired by Al-Jazeera television, gave her hope she is alive but also have "shaken us about her fate."

The U.S. military has said eight Iraqi women are in military detention. An Iraqi government commission reviewing detainee cases recommended to U.S. authorities Monday that six be released.

Deputy Justice Minister Busho Ibrahim Ali said the six women would be freed next week but "not part of any swap with any kidnappers."

However, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said no prisoner release was imminent.

Preliminary reports indicate an alliance of Shiite Muslim religious parties won the most seats in the 275-member Parliament but not enough to govern without coalition partners, including Sunni Arabs and Kurds. The Shiite alliance dominates the current government.

Final results have been withheld pending a report by a foreign assessment team into allegations of fraud leveled by major Sunni Arab parties. On Thursday, the team released its report saying it found numerous violations and indications of fraud. But it did not call for a new vote, as some Sunnis had demanded.

The International Mission for Iraqi Elections praised the ability to hold elections during a raging war and said there was an "urgent need ... for a formation of a government of true national unity."

There was no official response from the Iraqi government.

Sunni politician Saleh al-Mutlaq, an outspoken critic of the December balloting, said the report was contradictory because it cited irregularities "but then says the election commission was not prepared for this kind of a job."

Iraq's most powerful Shiite politician predicted Sunni Arab participation alone will not be enough to persuade Islamic extremists and Saddam Hussein loyalists to abandon the insurgency.

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, head of the country's largest Shiite party, said that Sunni Arabs, who dominated political life for generations, must accept the "new reality" in Iraq.

"Every day we are getting closer to accepting this reality. But there are some groups that will not accept this," Hakim said, citing religious extremists and Hussein loyalists. "Those people will continue confronting the government. ... Those people should be confronted firmly by the government."

Also Thursday, Italy announced it will withdraw all its troops from Iraq by the end of this year, in the first official timetable for Rome to end its mission.

Defense Minister Antonio Martino said in an address to a parliamentary committee that the mission "will be considered concluded at the end of the year having definitively completed its mission."

Italy has 2,600 troops based in southern Iraq. The country's military mission will be phased out gradually over the year and a civilian force will replace it, Martino said.

The withdrawal was being made in agreement with allies and according to a timetable that allows for Iraq's reconstruction, Martino said.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the Bush administration was "well aware of the steps that Italy is taking."

"Italy is doing this all in close consultation with coalition forces," McClellan said.

[Last modified January 20, 2006, 01:48:09]