U.S. actor and director Sean Penn, starting a three-day visit to Baghdad, said Friday he wanted more insight into "this frightening conflict."

The former Hollywood bad boy and Oscar nominee, who paid for a $56,000 advertisement in the Washington Post in October accusing President Bush of stifling debate over Iraq, was to visit a Baghdad hospital later in the day.

"As a father, an actor, a film-maker and patriot, my visit to Iraq is for me a natural extension of my obligation...to find my own voice on matters of conscience," Penn, once married to pop diva Madonna, said in a statement issued by the Institute of Public Accuracy.

» Sean Penn, Critical of Bush, Visits Baghdad