Baghdad, Sept 5 (ZEENEWS.COM) Police found the tortured, blindfolded bodies of 33 men scattered across the capital and the U.S.-led coalition reported combat deaths of seven servicemen, a day after Iraqi leaders said the capture of a top terror suspect would reduce violence.

Iraqi soldiers also clashed Monday with gunmen near the holy city of Karbala during an operation to secure the area ahead of a religious festival on Saturday, leaving 14 gunmen and one soldier dead, the prime minister's office said.

Kidnappers also dragged off a popular soccer star in Baghdad, while a security crackdown in the city expanded into the upscale Mansour neighborhood.

An al-Qaida-affiliated group dismissed the Iraqi government's claim that the organization's second most important leader had been arrested, suggesting the man was not a senior figure and denying the terror group had suffered a significant blow.

On Sunday, Iraq's national security adviser announced the arrest of Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi, also known as Abu Humam or Abu Rana, and said that had left al-Qaida in Iraq suffering a "serious leadership crisis."

But the Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of Sunni Arab extremist groups that includes al-Qaida in Iraq, issued a statement Monday saying its "leadership was in the best condition."

The statement did not directly deny the arrest, or say what position al-Saeedi held, although it suggested he was not the No. 2 leader.

The security adviser, Mouwafak al-Rubaie, described al-Saeedi as the second most important al-Qaida in Iraq figure behind Abu Ayyub al-Masri, who is believed to have taken over the group after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed by a US airstrike in June.