PEACE activist Jo Wilding was thrown out of Baghdad 48 hours before American troops arrived at the outskirts of the city - but today she said she wishes she could have stayed.

The 28-year-old went to Iraq in February to act as a witness to human rights abuses.

But Jo, along with other campaigners, was forced out of the country on Monday and arrived back in Britain from Jordan on Tuesday night.

Her mum Anne Wilding, of Talavera Road, Norton, was delighted her daughter is back safe and sound. But being away from the front line hasn't stopped Jo's anti-war campaign, and plans to link up with protesters in Britain.

"We have, as a species, learnt so much and yet we cannot sort out our problems without killing," said Jo yesterday. "There are always political solutions."

Although she is anti-war, she is no apologist for Saddam's regime.

"He's a murderous b******," she said. "But what I find difficult is that if he (Saddam) has killed a lot of his people why should we also kill them?

"With the sanctions we have put on Iraq for the past 12 years we have also killed a huge number of people."

She is only interested in the well-being of the people and is opposed to any action that involves bombing ordinary civilians, she said.

Also, she rejects any argument that the coalition is right to take military action because Saddam Hussein has killed and tortured so many of his own people.

Jo also dismisses America's argument of helping the Iraqi people because she said their policies in the Middle East show that they have not done anything to help anyone.

"They armed both sides in the Iraq/Iran war, which exacerbated the whole situation.

"Also, I do not think they are going to dismantle the regime. They are simply going to change the allegiances of the security forces."

The part-time law student at the West of England University in Bristol would like to go back, but because of her course, she cannot think about returning to Iraq until June.

Even then she is not sure if she will be able to get a visa or even raise the money needed.

"On one hand it was good to be out there and see what was really happening," said Jo.

"But on the other hand, to see and physically become part of the suffering, makes you want to turn your head and look away.