U.N. Secretary-General unhurt by Baghdad blast

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U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was left shaken but unhurt on Thursday after a suspected rocket exploded, sending shock waves through a building where he was giving a news conference.

Ban, on his first visit to Baghdad which was unannounced, ducked, grimaced and hurriedly pocketed his notes after the blast which shook the heavily fortified Green Zone where he was holding the briefing with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

Without commenting on the blast, Ban recovered his composure and took one further question from a journalist before leaving the conference room. Ban said he had a "very good meeting" with Maliki and pledged U.N. support for his government.

There were no details immediately available on precisely where the rocket landed, how much damage it caused and whether there were casualties.

The surprise trip came against the backdrop of more violence. Three U.S. soldiers were reported killed and rival Shi'ite gunmen clashed in Basra, Iraq's second city whose oil fields are the source of most of the country's wealth.

U.S. forces also announced the capture of a top aide to radical anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr over the killing of five American soldiers in the holy city of Kerbala in January.

Ban's trip was the first by the top U.N. official since his predecessor, Kofi Annan, visited in November 2005.