BAGHDAD, Dec. 6, (Xinhuanet) -- The top U.S. administrator in Iraq (news - web sites), L. Paul Bremer, warned Friday that attacks against coalition forces will likely escalate over the next few months as the occupation authority prepares for a transfer of sovereignty to a new Iraqi government.

    The warning came after a roadside bomb hit a U.S. military convoy in Baghdad, killing one soldier, the military said. Two Iraqi civilians also died and 13 were injured, hospital workers said.

    In an interview with The Associated Press, Bremer said former members of Saddam Hussein's intelligence agencies were now assuming an increasingly prominent role in the insurgency. He predicted an upsurge in attacks in coming months.

    "In the immediate phase ahead of us between now and the end of June we will actually see an increase in attacks, because the people who are against us now realize that there's huge momentum behind both the economic and political reconstruction of this country," Bremer told the AP.

    According to a Nov. 15 agreement between the U.S.-led coalition and Iraq's Governing Council, caucuses will be held across Iraq to elect delegates who will convene by the end of May. One month later, the delegates will elect a transitional government with full sovereign powers, formally ending the U.S.-led occupation.

    "The dead-enders can see that all this, plus the fact that the Iraqi people will get their sovereignty back, spells trouble for them," Bremer said. "So I think we will see a phase now when we will actually see increased attacks."

    A total of 79 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq in November. Twenty-five other allied troops also were killed, making it the deadliest month for the coalition since the invasion of Iraq on March 20. Enditem

    (AP)