Anti-war protestor Cindy Sheehan (C) speaks at a press conference at her makeshift camp near the ranch of Bush in Crawford, TX. Sheehan's husband has filed for divorce, according to court papers made public. (China Daily/AFP photo)

One of President Bush's neighbors will allow use of his land by dozens of war protesters who have camped in roadside ditches the past 11 days, giving them more room and halving their distance from Bush's ranch.

Demonstrators said Fred Mattlage made the offer because he sympathizes with them. The protesters' makeshift camp off a winding, two-lane road leading to Bush's ranch has agitated other residents, who complained of traffic jams and blocked roads.

Cindy Sheehan of Vacaville, Calif., started the vigil Aug. 6 to honor her son Casey, who was killed in Iraq last year. Sheehan has vowed to remain through Bush's monthlong ranch visit unless he meets with her and other grieving families.

Mattlage's Monday night offer, accepted by protesters Tuesday, will put them about a mile from Bush's ranch, said Hadi Jawad of the Crawford Peace House, which is helping the group.

Demonstrators said they would start moving their tents, anti-war banners and portable toilets to the new site Wednesday and hope to have the new camp set up in time for a dusk candlelight vigil.

The vigil will be one of about 1,000 to be held across the country, an effort organized by liberal advocacy groups MoveOn.org Political Action, TrueMajority and Democracy for America.

A telephone message left for Mattlage by The Associated Press wasn't immediately returned Tuesday. A distant cousin who owns nearby land, Larry Mattlage, fired a shotgun twice into the air Sunday but no one was injured. Fred Mattlage said he does not share his cousin's frustrations with the group, Jawad said.

For more than a week, the rural area has been a traffic nightmare as the camp attracted hundreds more protesters as well as Bush supporters holding counter-rallies.

Cindy Sheehan poses for a magazine at her camp on the side of the road leading to President Bush's ranch near Crawford, Texas, Monday, Aug. 15, 2005. (China Daily/AP photo)

A resident was arrested Monday night after authorities say he ran over hundreds of small wooden crosses bearing names of fallen U.S. soldiers.

Tuesday morning, several landowners asked county commissioners to extend for at least two miles the public "no parking" zone around Bush's ranch. The ordinance now prohibits cars from stopping on the road within about a quarter of a mile.

Bush, who said he sympathizes with Sheehan, has made no indication that he will meet with her. Sheehan and other families met with Bush two months after her son's death before she became a vocal opponent of the war.

Peace mom's husband files for divorce

The husband of Cindy Sheehan, the California mother camped outside President Bush's ranch in Texas to protest the death of a son who was killed while serving with U.S. forces in Iraq, filed for divorce, according to court documents.

Patrick Sheehan filed a petition for the dissolution of his marriage Friday in Solano County Superior Court. His lawyer did not immediately return a call seeking comment Monday.

The couple's eldest child, Casey, 24, was an Army soldier killed in April 2004.

Cindy Sheehan said the stress of the death led to the separation of the couple, who were high school sweethearts.

It also led her to take her activism just short of the president's door step, where she has held an anti-war demonstration for more than a week.

Sheehan, who has been joined by more than 100 anti-war activists, vowed to remain in Texas through Bush's August vacation, unless he meets with her.

She wants to ask Bush what cause her son died for and ask why he hasn't encouraged his daughters to join the military.

The Sheehans have three surviving adult children.

Source: China Daily/AP