Mortar Rounds Rock Media Event in Baghdad
Iraq (CNN) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon ducked in surprise when an explosion rattled Baghdad's Green Zone on Thursday as he was delivering a televised news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Two mortar rounds were fired at the Green Zone, an Interior Ministry official said. The Associated Press reported that small chips of debris fell from the ceiling.
The explosion startled Ban, who swiftly regained his composure as the briefing continued. "A mortar landed and went off 100 meters away in an open field outside the compound where the press conference was being held," said U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe. "The press conference continued. They don't know where it came from.
Okabe said Ban was "fine" and would continue as scheduled on the rest of his Middle East visit.
Ban arrived in the Iraqi capital Thursday morning on an unannounced visit, his first to the war-torn country since taking office in January. He called his meeting with al-Maliki "very good" and praised the prime minister's "strong leadership" and said he was considering increasing the U.N.'s presence in Iraq as the situation in the country improved.
"The United Nations has been actively participating and helping Iraqi people through various means -- humanitarian, economic, and political facilitation," said Ban. "However, recently, United Nations activities have been somewhat constrained, largely because of the situation on the ground." Ban's visit came as U.S. officials said they had detained two brothers, one with ties to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, in connection with the killings of five American soldiers in Karbala in January.