Jones, a key witness to the car crash, has taken a private security job in the war-torn country to avoid appearing at the inquest which opened this month, the 'Sunday Mirror' reported here.

"That Trevor is in Iraq is a measure of how much he wants to be out of the way. He doesn't want to be involved in the inquest at all - he'd rather be dodging bullets.

"Trevor thinks enough has been said about what happened to Diana, and I think he's right. He went through a terrible experience and doesn't like to talk about it. It has scarred him for life," one of Jones' friends said.

The 38-year-old former bodyguard is likely to be called to give evidence at the inquest in London's High Court in January.

But, his wife 37-year-old Ann said, "He doesn't want anything to do with the inquest. All he wants is to forget and get on with his life. It was a long time ago and he doesn't like to think about it."

Jones was pictured in the front seat of Diana and Dodi's Mercedes moments before it crashed in the Pont d'Alma tunnel in Paris in 1997. Though he broke every bone in his face and suffered severe chest, head and brain injuries, he was the only passenger to escape with his life.

But, he believes that the crash was an accident and refuses to subscribe to the views of Mohammed Al-Fayed that Diana and Dodi were assassinated by British secret service on the orders of Prince Philip.

"From his point of view, there was no plot - it was an accident plain and simple. He ought to know, he was there. He doesn't think the inquest is going to change any of that. It's just bringing back events which he'd rather forget," the British tabloid quoted another friend as saying.

However, Al-Fayed has told the inquest that he "does not believe that Jones has no memory of the Diana crash". Instead, the Harrods boss thinks his former employee knows "exactly" what had happened ten years back.

Al-Fayed also reckons Jones' book, 'The Bodyguard's Story', was a "tissue of lies" written by the intelligence services.