By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest inside a crowded downtown coffee shop Thursday and seconds later another bomb exploded under a nearby car, killing at least 16 people and wounding 25, police and hospital officials said.
The suicide bombing occurred in a coffee shop on Baghdad's Saadoun Street, killing 12 people and wounding 20, said police Maj. Mohammed Younis. The blast under a parked car outside the nearby al-Mathak restaurant killed at least four more and injured five, including two women, Younis added.
The blasts occurred as the mother of abducted American reporter Jill Carroll appealed for her daughter's release after her captors threatened to kill her if US authorities don't release all Iraqi women in military custody.