Iraq's U.S. governor Paul Bremer said on Friday he escaped a guerrilla ambush earlier this month, and in fresh violence a blast destroyed the Baghdad office of the largest Shi'ite Muslim party, killing a woman.

Washington, battling to stamp out attacks that have killed 200 U.S. soldiers since major combat was declared over on May 1, said troop strengths in Iraq would be increased for a while in coming months at the request of military commander John Abizaid.

"This is true, but thankfully I am still alive and here I am in front of you," Bremer told reporters when asked about reports that a convoy in which he was traveling in Baghdad on December 6 was hit by an explosive device and came under gunfire.

Bremer, the man who announced to the world on Sunday U.S. troops had captured Saddam Hussein, was given the high stakes Iraq job by President Bush. A top task has been to try to stop the attacks blamed on Saddam supporters and foreign Islamic militants.

Witnesses said a woman was killed and up to seven people were wounded when the Baghdad office of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) was devastated in an attack blamed on guerrillas, including Saddam loyalists.

SCIRI is represented on the U.S.-backed Iraqi Governing Council and is the biggest party representing the country's majority Shi'ites, who were repressed during three decades of iron rule by Saddam, a Sunni Muslim.

FINGER POINTED AT SADDAM SUPPORTERS

"The men of (Saddam's) regime and terrorist elements are behind the attack," said SCIRI official Mohsin al-Hakim.

Guerrilla attacks have targeted Iraqis cooperating with the United States as well as U.S.-led forces.

Washington was hoping Saddam's capture would ease attacks on its soldiers and help defuse political tensions between Iraq's volatile mix of Sunnis, Shi'ites, Kurds and other communities.

The ambush on Bremer occurred as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was in Iraq to assess how to deal with the attacks. Rumsfeld was not in the convoy.

Dan Senor, a spokesman for the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, said: "We have good reason to believe it was a random opportunistic attack not necessarily targeting (Bremer)."

U.S. television network NBC said Bremer's convoy was attacked as it traveled from Baghdad airport, but was able to speed away.

Senor said a surge of political violence with sectarian overtones reflected the desire of Saddam supporters and foreign "terrorists" to thwart U.S. plans to reshape Iraq as a democracy in the heart of the Middle East.

"Any sort of ethnic tension or regional tension that you see at play that manifests itself in terms of attacks against political leaders...is a function of people who want this project, who want this experiment to fail," Senor said.

U.S. TROOP STRENGTH TO RISE BRIEFLY

U.S. officials said Rumsfeld had approved a troop rotation that would briefly increase the number of U.S. soldiers in Iraq, now totaling some 120,000.

"It's a (rise), no doubt about it," a senior Pentagon official said.

U.S. forces have stepped up a drive to flush out guerrillas in a so-called Sunni triangle in northern and central Iraq where Saddam had his power base.

U.S. calls for military help from other countries were boosted on Friday when Japan issued orders for air force members to prepare to leave for the Middle East for the start of a military deployment to support rebuilding Iraq.

U.S.-led authorities in Iraq said they were revising the pay of a new army to replace Saddam's forces, after nearly half of the first unit quit complaining of bad pay and working conditions.

Bremer abolished Saddam's 400,000-strong army in May and the United States is recruiting and training a force it envisages having some 40,000 soldiers, along with larger numbers of police and border guards.

Stability is vital for oil-rich Iraq's drive to attract foreign investment in an economy weighed down by an estimated $120 billion in foreign debt and battered by years of U.N. sanctions during Saddam's rule.

U.S. envoy James Baker reported to Bush after returning to Washington from a week of visits to France, Germany, Italy, Britain and Russia, where he made progress on obtaining commitments to substantially reduce Iraq's debt.

"Baker said that while he was pleased with the progress made...there's still a lot of work to do. He will continue his efforts and visits to capitals in the coming weeks," U.S. official Sean McCormack said.

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