Shots fired in MP ambush

Ann Clwyd says she is no worse for wear after the ambush

A convoy carrying Labour MP Ann Clwyd, Tony Blair's envoy on human rights in Iraq, has been ambushed by bandits.

The Cynon Valley MP told her office at Westminster that shots were fired.

She was travelling in an armed convoy with Iraqi fighters and American troops when the attack happened on Monday afternoon.

The Kurdish Peshmerga and US soldiers chased the bandits into the hills but the attackers managed to get way.

The incident happened near Kirkuk in the north of the country. Ms Clwyd said nobody was hurt and she was no worse for the incident.

Brutality

The Foreign Office said it was "relieved to learn that Ann Clwyd is alive and well" after the attack.

A spokesman said it was typical of her courage that she was continuing with her journey.

Ann Clwyd has campaigned for human rights for 25 years

The MP was one of the few left-wingers in the Commons to support the war against Iraq.

Ms Clwyd was a veteran campaigner against the brutality of the Iraqi regime, which she compared to the Khmer Rouge and the Nazis.

In 1991 she was the first MP to highlight the plight of Kurdish refugees fleeing bombardments by Saddam Hussein's regime.

Her new role is to combine reporting back to the prime minister on human rights violations during Saddam's tyranny and researching Iraq's post-war problems.

She has been in Iraq about a week and is expected back in this country next week.

Ms Clwyd spoke to BBC Radio Wales on Sunday during a visit to a mass grave near Baghdad which held 10,000 bodies.

As controversy continues over allegations that the UK government exaggerated the threat of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, Ms Clwyd, said she was convinced that they would be discovered.

She has been in Iraq since last week to lead the British team examining the mass graves.