A woman who intends to stand in the way of allied attacks on Iraq leaves for the Middle East today.

Grace Trevett wants to act as a human shield to stop British and American forces bombing the country.

The veteran campaigner, who has travelled as far afield as the United States to take part in peace protests, left her home in Stroud, Gloucestershire, on Friday.

The town's mayor, John Marjoram, and fellow members of the local anti-war movement gathered to see her off on her trip.

'Unnecessary' invasion

Grace Trevett is leaving her daughter behind on her twenty-second birthday to draw attention to the plight of the people of Iraq who she believes are being dehumanised by the US government.

Ms Trevett, who joined the Stroud Peace Movement on 11 September 2001, said: "Over the past year and a half I've been watching the situation and I feel it is being manipulated.

"For me there are big questions over whether an invasion is necessary.

"I was in the US in April to take part in a peace march, but while I was there the people of Iraq were being demonised and their children were said to be spies.

Faceless mass

"I believe human beings are equally precious, equally important wherever they come from.

"They are not a faceless mass who don't matter if they die."

Ms Trevett and her fellow campaigners say they are willing to put themselves in the firing line should US and British forces bomb Iraq.

They plan to identify potential bombing targets such as power stations and bridges and act as human shields to protect them.

But the campaigner said she hoped to make people take notice of the situation even if she didn't make it all the way to Iraq.