  We show that for asymptotically anti-deSitter backgrounds with negative
energy, such as the AdS soliton and regulated negative mass AdS-Schwarzshild
metrics, the Wilson loop expectation value in the AdS/CFT conjecture exhibits a
Coulomb to confinement transition. We also show that the quark-antiquark ($q
\bar q$) potential can be interpreted as affine time along null geodesics on
the minimal string world sheet,and that its intrinsic curvature provides a
signature of transition to confinement phase. The result demonstrates a UV/IR
relation in that the boundary separation of the $q \bar{q}$ pair exhibits an
inverse relationship with the radial descent of the world sheet into the bulk.
Our results suggest a generic (holographic) relationship between confinement in
gauge theory and repulsive gravity, which in turn is connected with singularity
avoidance in quantum gravity.
