Frantic parents' plea to 'human shield'

Terrified for her safety now that diplomacy has failed, they believe she has made her point and should come back to York.

Antoinette, 38, is believed to be in Iraq and making her way towards Baghdad with a group of other peace campaigners.

They are thought to have used tourist visas to get into the country from Jordan, documents which are only valid for one week.

"It is very nerve-wracking," said her mother Mairi from her home in Huntington Road, York, yesterday.

"I would like her to come home now. We have even sent her an email saying 'please come back or we'll go and get you'."

Antoinette has been in daily contact with her parents while in Jordan. However, they have not heard from her since last Friday, when she told them she was planning to travel into Iraq.

"We are sure that's where she is now and aiming towards Baghdad, but with only a seven-day tourist visa she won't be able to stay there," said her mother. "We are very frightened for her."

Antoinette, an American citizen who has been living with her parents, John and Mairi, at their home in York, left for the Gulf region in February.

Originally 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 rather than the sites chosen by the Iraqi host group and it is understood her attempts to get into Iraq were thwarted several times.

She served with the US Navy on a hospital ship during the 1991 Gulf War but wanted to put herself in harm's way in an effort to prevent another all-out conflict.

* Two days ago, an American woman was killed in Gaza where she had been acting as a human shield in an effort to stop Israeli operations there. Rachel Corrie, 23, was run over by a bulldozer as it tore down a building in a refugee camp.