Actor Penn considers Iraq return

Penn visited Iraq in December 2002

Hollywood actor Sean Penn is considering a return to Iraq and publishing his observations of everyday life in the war-torn country.

Penn, who went on a peace mission to Iraq last year, may have his diaries printed in the San Francisco Chronicle, the newspaper's editor has said.

Phil Bronstein said Penn would focus on everyday life, producing a "reporter's notebook" about Iraqi people's lives.

Penn courted controversy on his last visit by speaking out against war.

Mr Bronstein, an old friend of Penn's, described his earlier dispatches from Iraq "as short vignettes that caught moments in people's lives and what they were doing".

Legal battle

"He brings a very keen director's and actor's eye to slices of life in Baghdad," he said.

Penn has been embroiled in a $15m (£9m) legal battle with producer Steve Bing over a film they had planned to make together.

Penn is suing Bing for $10m (£6m), claiming he lost a role because of his opposition to the Iraq war. Bing is counter-suing, saying the actor tried to blackmail him.

Penn, the former husband of Madonna, recently starred in Clint Eastwood's film Mystic River.

He has received three Oscar acting nominations for Dead Man Walking, Sweet and Lowdown and I Am Sam.