WASHINGTON: Anti-war activists who visited Iraq before the US invasion have discovered that they could face up to 12 years in prison and $1m in fines.

Although travel firms now tout adventure tours to a country that is a temporary home to 150,000 US troops, scores of American protesters have been warned they risk fines or imprisonment for violating a prewar travel ban.

During the past few weeks a retired schoolteacher in her 60s and a number of other activists have received warnings from the US treasury that they could face punishment for travelling to Iraq.

“When I came back from Iraq I had a letter from the treasury threatening up to 12 years in prison and up to $1m in fines,” said Faith Fippinger, 62.

Ms Fippinger, who retired as a teacher for the blind, spent the war as a human shield, living in the grounds of an ageing oil refinery in Baghdad.

She was among about 30 Americans who arrived in Iraq in the run-up to war to serve as human shields.

Ms Fippinger said a treasury official had told her last week that if she agreed to pay, the fine would be reduced to $10,000. She refused to pay the fine.

“It’s a matter of principle, having made the decision to go there out of caring for human life, and then once there having to deal with the dead children from cluster bombs,” she said.

She was warned that the funds could be seized from her pension, or through the sale of her house.—Dawn/The Guardian News Service.