Baghdad, Iraq ? Reaffirming his support for the U.S.-led occupation, Spain’s prime minister lunched in a desert canteen with Spanish soldiers on Saturday in Iraq in a surprise trip reminiscent of President Bush’s Thanksgiving visit to Baghdad.

Also, in an apparent revenge campaign, attackers separately targeted two people with close ties to the former regime of Saddam Hussein, killing one in a hail of submachine gun fire, critically wounding another and killing her 5-year-old son, officials said Saturday.

In Samarra, a town near Tikrit where rebel activity has been intense, U.S. forces destroyed a house suspected of being used by insurgents to shoot at passing military convoys. And residents in the western town of Rawah, near the Syrian border, said a large number of American soldiers had entered the town and were conducting house-to-house searches.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar landed in Iraq at about 11 a.m. with a 16-member delegation to meet members of the 1,300-strong Spanish contingent in Iraq, based in the southern town of Diwaniyah. He left four hours later.

The trip was so secret that soldiers in the mess didn’t know Aznar was there until his visit was announced over a megaphone and the prime minister walked in. Bush staged a similar trip, secretly flying to spend a few hours with U.S. troops at Baghdad International Airport.

In brief comments to reporters, Aznar expressed support for Spanish troops and said he brought them greetings from King Juan Carlos. He said the soldiers were working for “the cause of freedom, democracy and respect for international law.”

He depicted the soldiers’ mission as being part of a broad, global campaign against terrorism. “The safety of Spain is also defended in Iraq,” he said.

Aznar has staunchly supported the United States despite widespread opposition at home. Ten Spaniards have died in Iraq since August, and the worst attack — an ambush in late November — left seven Spanish intelligence agents dead.

Meanwhile, senior military officials said the Pentagon was sending an additional 2,000 troops to Iraq and extending the deployment of another unit.

U.S. soldiers raise a banner after a performance by World Wrestling Entertainment wrestlers who flew to Iraq to entertain the troops at Baghdad International Airport. After the capture of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein six days ago, the soldiers Saturday were calling for the arrest of Osama bin Laden.

Japan also said it was dispatching 1,000 troops on a humanitarian mission to southern Iraq.

There were conflicting reports about a shooting in northeast Iraq. Local police said U.S. forces believed Iraqi policemen manning a checkpoint were bandits and mistakenly fired on them, killing three officers and wounding two.