UPDATE On Media Hotel Bombing

UPDATE 12:03 A.M. -Reuters is reporting the death toll at 12. The explosions, shortly after the ritual breaking of the Ramadan fast, blew out windows and damaged buildings, scattering shrapnel and debris over a wide area beyond the high-rise concrete towers, Reuters correspondents on the scene said. Witnesses said the first bomb appeared to be in a car that drove between the two hotels, which have long housed international journalists and foreign contractors in Baghdad. The ground floor of the Sheraton hotel suffered severe damage and several people were wounded, a hotel official told Reuters by telephone. CNN television pictures showed two smaller explosions followed by one huge flash that sent up a mushroom cloud of dust and smoke in front of Firdous Square where Saddam Hussein's statue was torn down at the end of the U.S. invasion in 2003. ****** UPDATE 11:50 A.M. - at least six people injured. Arab satellite television networks said 11 people were killed in the vicinity of the bombs. ****** 11:11 A.M. - AP is reporting: BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two rockets and a car bomb hit the Palestine Hotel on Monday, wounding at least two people and causing considerable damage to the building that houses many foreign journalists, Iraqi police said. The attacks shattered windows and caused heavy damage to the south side of the 19-story hotel, forcing journalists, including those from The Associated Press, to take refuge in the corridor. refuge in the corridor. Inside the hotel, pictures were blown off walls. Maj. Abbas Mohammed Suleiman said the hotel compound was hit by two rockets and one car bomb. After the attack, automatic heavy weapons fire rang out in the area although it was not clear what it came from More when available.