BAGHDAD, Oct 9: Fears are growing that rebels in Iraq will unleash a "spectacular" attack on a high-profile target such as the Baghdad compound that houses the US embassy ahead of Ramazan, a senior US official said.

Outgunned militarily, the guerrillas are increasingly resorting to shock tactics, demonstrated most recently with the grisly murder of British hostage Ken Bigley, to create a maximum impact, the senior military official said.

"Coming up to Ramazan... and based on intelligence that we have, the potential is there for increased threats against multinational forces all across the country," the official said.

"If they are going to attack they are going to try to do something spectacular as they always do," he said.-AFP