Speaking at a prayer vigil outside the White House that she has joined every day for more than three weeks, Maguire implored US President George W. Bush and his British ally, Prime Minister Tony Blair, to "think of the little children."

"Through our stupid policies we have crucified the Iraqi people," Maguire said.

Standing in a circle with about 30 others attending the vigil, she implored Bush and Blair to "please think of all the little children around the world."

Maguire was spurred to take up the struggle for peace in Northern Ireland -- for which she was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 1976 -- by the violent deaths of her sister, eight-year-old niece and two nephews, aged two and six weeks.

She has unsuccessfully sought a meeting with Bush since arriving in Washington on March 24.

On Tuesday Maguire addressed a letter to the US president to express her views on "the deepening tragedy of Iraq and the world situation."

She told Bush that "the illegal and immoral invasion and occupation of Iraq ... has not been a victory for USA/UK, nor has it liberated the Iraqi people.

"Instead it has added even more terrible death and destruction ... and caused the unnecessary suffering of many more civilians, particularly children."

The 1991 Gulf War and subsequent economic sanctions have "collectively punished for 10 years, causing the death of over half a million children under five years of age, a whole people for the policies of their government.

"This I consider a crime against peace, against humanity," Maguire wrote in the letter, a copy of which was addressed to Blair.

Praising the British prime minister's "positive role" in the Northern Ireland peace process, Maguire said Blair had "learned many lessons which should have helped him steer the world away from the Iraqi war."

The Nobel peace laureate faces prosecution for demonstrating without a permit outside the White House on March 27, when she was arrested along with 67 other anti-war protesters including 1997 Nobel peace laureate Jody Williams, famous for her work to eradicate land mines.

Also arrested was Daniel Ellsberg, the former US government official who leaked the Pentagon Papers to the news media during the Vietnam War, as well as scores of religious leaders.

Maguire has been ordered to appear in court on May 29 but plans to return home on Friday, and a spokesman for Pax Christi, a Catholic pacifist group, said the case against her would likely be thrown out.

Civil disobedience "is very important whenever the government is carrying out policies that are illegal and against international law," Maguire told AFP. "People have to try all channels of non-violence."

Maguire was also arrested along with about 40 other protesters during a demonstration outside the United Nations on March 17, three days before the war was launched, and has a court appearance scheduled in New York on Tuesday.

Lawyer John F. Baringer, who is acting on her behalf, told AFP he was taking steps "to enable her to fulfill those responsibilities," adding that "she is dealing with those issues responsibly."

Baringer expects the cases to be dropped.

"Last I heard they lost the paperwork -- which is a euphemism," he said. "They dont want to prosecute."

SPACE.WIRE