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Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar made a brief, whirlwind visit to 1,300 Spanish peacekeeping troops in southern Iraq Saturday In a morale-boosting show of support.

Aznar had lunch with Spanish troops in a desert canteen. [AP]

The visit came as violence persisted throughout Iraq nine months after the war began. The Coalition Provisional Authority told CNN that 15 insurgents engaged a 4th Infantry Division in a gunbattle north of Fallujah. Three insurgents were killed, and there were no coalition casualties.

Aznar -- in what is his first trip to Iraq since the U.S.-led war began in March -- appeared to be taking a cue from U.S. President George W. Bush, who made an unannounced visit last Thanksgiving to see U.S. troops in Baghdad.

The prime minister and a 17-member delegation traveled to Spain's main base of Diwaniyah, the Spanish news agency EFE reported, a city about 100 miles south of Baghdad. Defense Minister Federico Trillo and several senior aides were among those in the delegation.

Aznar arrived in Iraq at 10:45 a.m. (0745 GMT), and ate lunch with the troops. He headed home four hours later after the surprise trip, a Spanish reporter told CNN partner station CNN.

For security reasons, the trip was kept a secret to outsiders until after Aznar's party arrived in Iraq, Aznar's office told CNN+. Bush's trip was not made public until Bush arrived at his Iraqi destination.

The area around Diwaniyah has suffered fewer attacks than the Baghdad area and the northern area around Tikrit.

Aznar has been one of Bush's staunchest allies before and during the war in Iraq, and in the U.S.-led coalition that is trying to rebuild the nation.

The Spanish combat-trained forces are stationed in the Polish-controlled sector south of Baghdad. They arrived last August, with Spain's commitment to keep them in place at least through the end of this year.

About a week ago, the Spanish government announced, as expected, that its troops would remain on duty an extra six months, through June 30, 2004.

It was also a week ago that Saddam Hussein was captured, and demonstrators congregated in the Baghdad square, where the famous statue of the dictator was toppled April 9, demanding that he be tried in Iraq for war crimes.

A couple of hundred Shiites demonstrated in Al Firdaws Square in the peaceful rally. They carried banners of their leaders and shouted anti-Baathist chants.

Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division in Mosul seized a range weapons over the last 24 hours and made arrests, the division said.

Soldiers detained a suspect for Baath Party activities, "including continuing to hold Baath Party meetings, planning possible attacks on U.S. Forces and for possible war crimes to include torture and murder."

Also, five people were apprehended in the village of Qabr Abed, a taxi driver was detained at the Qayarrah Bridge, and three people were taken into custody in Tal Afar.

Among the weapons found were two 107 mm rockets in high weeds near Mosul on an island in the Tigris River.

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