Y Ddraig Goch's attack on Ieuan Wyn Jones carries no name

Mr Jones, a former Plaid president, is attacked as a "hindrance" in an anonymous column in Y Ddraig Goch.

The article claims voters in Mr Jones' Ynys Mon constituency are "completely disillusioned" with him.

Mr Jones said he was "fairly relaxed" about the article, although it was unfair and should have carried a name.

The electors of Ynys Mon are completely disillusioned with Ieuan Wyn Jones Anonymous Y Ddraig Goch columnist

The Y Ddraig Goch (The Red Dragon) column said Plaid needed to be "ruthless" if it wanted to hold Ynys Mon in the 2007 assembly election.

Plaid was bitterly disappointed when it failed to regain the seat at last month's general election.

Ynys Mon was the party's top target, but Labour's Albert Owen held on with an increased majority. Mr Jones, who had been MP since 1987, stepped down in 2001 to concentrate on his other role as an AM.

Ieuan Wyn Jones AM was Ynys Mon's MP until 2001

Mr Jones also stepped down as Plaid president after the party lost five of its 17 seats at the 2003 assembly election. He later returned as head of the assembly group when Plaid split its leadership, and Dafydd Iwan became party president.

The Y Ddraig Goch author wrote that "my numerous contacts on Ynys Mon are, one and all, of the opinion that Ieuan Wyn Jones is a hindrance to Plaid Cymru".

'Giants not pigmies'

It also urged Plaid members and the party leadership of the party to appreciate the seriousness of the situation.

"The electors of Ynys Mon are completely disillusioned with Ieuan Wyn Jones," it said.

The attack on Mr Jones was in contrast to the praise given in the column to Adam Price, the MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr.

Mr Price was praised by the columnist for trebling his majority in the general election in the face of a "fierce local and national campaign" by Labour.

The column praises Carmarthen East & Dinefwr MP Adam Price

It described Mr Price as "the future" and said the party needed "giants not pigmies" if it was to succeed.

Asked whether it was a divisive contribution to debate within the party, Mr Jones said that was a question for the editor of Y Ddraig Goch, which had its own editorial freedom.

But Mr Jones said he "didn't like" the article, and felt that its content was "unfair."

He said he believed that such an article should at the very least have been published with a byline.

A spokesman for the party said that no other party leaders were available for comment.

The editor of Y Ddraig Goch could not be contacted.