A WORRIED mum whose only daughter is documenting the horrors of war in battle-scarred Baghdad is desperately waiting for news.

Anne Wilding has not heard from daughter Jo since she received an e-mail on Saturday. She tried to make a phone call to her yesterday - Mother's Day - but the phone lines were down once again.

As coalition bombers attack the city, each minute has been a living nightmare for Mrs Wilding, with Jo, a passionate human rights activist, writing and recording evidence of civilian deaths and injuries from the heart of the Iraqi capital.

Mrs Wilding, of Talavera Road, Norton, near Worcester, said not even the 28-year-old's hunger strikes in Palestine had caused her so much anguish.

She now finds watching TV pictures too painful and relies on Teletext for news.

"Jo has been in Iraq with a friend since February. Initially she was only meant to go out for three weeks, to look at how civilians could be affected if conflict began," she said.

"When war broke out I asked her to come back home, but they were determined to stop and collect evidence on any attacks made on civilians.

"I only asked her the once because she is very strong-minded. It would be pointless to keep on asking her. I'm worried for her. She has told me she's stopping till the conflict ends."

Despite her worries, she is proud of her daughter and feels her reports give a unique and disturbing picture of the civilians caught up in war.

"On top of casualties from bombing you begin to hear how people are becoming ill from raw sewage. She also recounts how she went to a child's birthday party this week. People are still trying to live as normal a life as possible."

Jo had been to Iraq in 2001 to investigate the problems international sanctions were causing.

She was also involved in protests last March in Palestine, where she was jailed by Israelis. She went on hunger strike for five-days before being released and sent back to Britain.