THE parents of human shield Antoinette McCormack told of their devastation last night as their daughter remained in Baghdad as bombs blew apart the Iraqi capital

Mairi and John McCormack remained watching their television sets throughout the evening, viewing continued air strikes destroy buildings, anxiously waiting for news of their daughter's safety.

Antoinette, 38, arrived in the beleaguered city on Wednesday with a group of other peace campaigners, after a long overland journey from Jordan.

And despite pleas from her parents to return to Britain after diplomacy failed, Antoinette was adamant she wanted to stay and help the Iraqi people.

But as Mairi and John, from Huntington Road, in York, watched fireballs erupt from buildings across the city, they prayed their daughter was not in one of them.

Mrs McCormack said: "As you can imagine, we are extremely worried about our daughter, watching the bombs coming down, who wouldn't be?

"I'm afraid this is rather familiar for us, having lived through the Second World War. But this is worse, we have not seen anything like this."

She said the last contact she and her husband had from Antoinette was an e-mail sent on Wednesday from the Hotel Palestine, in Baghdad, where she was staying.

Mrs McCormack said: "We have not had any contact from her since Wednesday.

"The only contact we've had are e-mails, when she said she was okay. She also told us that her guides had been asking her to visit mosques throughout the region, which seems a bit bizarre right now.

"It's impossible right now to get any news. We would just would like an e-mail to know she's okay and safe. But what can we do but sit and watch what's happening, you feel so helpless?

"Antoinette wanted to help in any way she could and remain in Iraq. We know that she is staying in the Hotel Palestine and that's about it.

"It is frightening watching the bombs coming down and all I can think of is the people of Iraq, I feel so sorry for all those families."

It's understood Antoinette and the other campaigners have used tourist visas to get into the country from Jordan, documents which are only valid for one week.

Mrs McCormack said: "Antoinette is only there on a tourist visa, but we believe she'll try and stay on in Baghdad. I don't think the bombing will change her mind."

Antoinette, an American citizen who has been living with her parents, left for the Gulf in February.

She had intended to head directly for Baghdad to become a human shield, but as the situation altered, she travelled instead to the Jordanian capital of Amman, where she has been working in the human shield campaign's Gulf office. She had wanted to become a human shield at a hospital.

22/03/2003