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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The U.S. military and the Iraqi government denied on Thursday that al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri was recently killed by U.S. forces.
At least two Arab TV networks and Reuters news agency had reported that al-Masri was killed in a raid in Haditha, but a U.S. military spokesman said those reports are not true.
According to Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, the reports "do not appear to have any substance," although he said several "terrorists" had been killed in an operation.
"We don't believe al-Masri has been killed during recent coalition forces operations," Johnson said, while admitting they had hoped to kill the terrorist who took over leadership in June after the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
The Iraqi government backed up the denial of the leader suspected to have been involved in 2,000 car bombs that have killed 6,000 Iraqis since 2004.
Last week, an audiotape purportedly from al-Masri appeared on Islamic Web sites, saying he was launching a major military campaign and urging other Muslims in Iraq to join the fight.
Rice arrives in Iraq
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday arrived for an unannounced visit in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, her landing 30 minutes delayed because of "indirect fire" at the airport, said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack. The indirect fire was either from mortars or rockets.
Rice had been visiting the Middle East this week, with stops in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian territories. She is in Iraq to discuss political and security issues.
"The security situation is not one that can be tolerated, and is not one that's being helped by political inaction, and so that is a message that I think Prime Minister Maliki is trying to send, the message that we are trying to send as well," she said off-camera, referring to Iraq's leader Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
"It's a quite critical time, I think, for the Iraqi government, as they work on their national compact, their national reconciliation plan," she said during a brief press conference with al-Maliki. "This is, of course, a time of challenge for the Iraqi people, but they are strong people, they are committed people, and we know that they will overcome these challenges."
Rice left Tel Aviv Israel in the late morning and stopped at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey. In Baghdad, she landed at the airport and then took a helicopter to the Green Zone, where U.S. and Iraqi authorities are based.
Rice was last in Iraq in April in two separate trips. In early April, she and the British foreign secretary at the time, Jack Straw, were helping Iraqi leaders jump-start the process of forming a national unity government. In late April, she and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld traveled to Iraq in separate visits to show support for Iraq's fledgling new government.
Gunman blasts Iraqi coffee shop customers
Rice's arrival comes less than a day after a gunmen barged into a coffee shop in the Zafaraniya district of southern Baghdad, killing five people and wounding six.
During Ramadan, a Muslim holy month, many gather and mingle in coffee shops following their day of fasting.
Separately, two civilians were killed and two were wounded after a car bomb exploded in the northwestern Baghdad neighborhood of Hurriya on Thursday morning, police said.
Authorities also said 20 people were wounded from an explosion in central Baghdad's Tayaran Square near a gathering of construction workers waiting to be picked up early Thursday morning.
Medic will testify in kidnap-murder case
A U.S. Navy medic accused in the kidnap-murder of an Iraqi man has agreed to testify against seven Marines who have also been charged in the case, The Associated Press reported.
Petty Officer Third Class Melson Bacos' lawyer said the deal takes Bacos "out of harm's way."
Bacos patrolled with the Marine squad that is accused of kidnapping and killing a 52-year-old man last April in the Iraqi town of Hamdania. All eight have been charged with crimes including premeditated murder and kidnapping.
Under the deal, Bacos will give details of the incident Friday at a general court martial at Camp Pendleton, California. In return, the charges will be dropped. But Bacos' attorney says his client will plead guilty to two new charges. He doesn't say what they are.
The deal was announced on the same day that two of the Marines pleaded not guilty. According to prosecutors, the troops bound the Iraqi man's feet, dragged him from his home and shot him in a hole along the side of a road.
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