OTTAWA — Another fiery battle has broken out between two high-profile Liberal MPs over a single Ontario riding after Prime Minister Paul Martin declared he won't protect incumbents from being challenged - even by each other.

Steve Mahoney, a former Jean Chretien cabinet minister, says he wants to run in the same Toronto-area riding as Carolyn Parrish, a firebrand Martin supporter.

During an interview Wednesday, Mahoney said Parrish has "embarrassed" the Liberal party.

Parrish, in turn, accused Mahoney of "side-swiping" her and of being afraid to run in an adjoining riding against newcomer Wajid Khan.

Khan, a Toronto-area car dealer now seeking the Liberal nomination in the new Mississauga-Streetsville riding, delivered more than 1,000 delegate votes to Martin's team during the party leadership race this year.

"He's just scared of Wajid Khan," Parrish said from her riding office.

Mahoney also wants the riding because his wife, Kathleen, is a city councillor in the area, as was Mahoney in the 1970s, added Parrish.

"He's just coming down here thinking it's familiar territory because he's back with some of his old municipal people here. I got side-swiped."

Mahoney rejected those charges, saying the fight against Parrish will be tough given her longevity as a 10-year MP and her organizational strength - she won the largest nomination battle in Canadian history with 3,800 out of 15,500 votes cast.

"For me it's really basic: all politics is local. This is my community and she can't have it - not without one hell of a fight."

He added his decision to take her on has nothing to do with her status as a female MP.

Several female Liberal MPs including former heritage minister Sheila Copps and Beth Phinney have said they are being targetted by Martin supporters for their ridings, in part because they are women.

"It's got nothing to do with gender," said Mahoney. "People are embarrassed by (Parrish)."

Last February, Parrish created a stir when she was overheard saying: "damn Americans, I hate those bastards."

Wednesday, she said Mahoney won't get far by dwelling on her past comments, since most of her riding is composed of people who wouldn't be offended by her position.

Martin has said he wants 52 per cent of his caucus to be women; his aides have denied claims they are after the seats of women MPs.

Mahoney is a former Martin supporter who broke ranks in 2002 over attempts to force former prime minister Jean Chretien from office.

He was appointed minister responsible for Crown corporations and housing last spring but dropped when Martin swore in his new government earlier this month.

Parrish was one of a core group of Liberal MPs to speak out early in 2002, calling on Chretien to leave.

She also criticized the former prime minister for not placing more women in cabinet.

This battle represents the reverse of a war now underway between Copps and Transport Minister Tony Valeri over the new riding of Hamilton East-Stoney Creek.

There, Copps - a stalwart Chretien supporter - has accused Valeri of trying to poach her turf.

Valeri is a key Martin supporter, as demonstrated by his new cabinet post.

Copps also accused Valeri, his political supporters, and Paul Martin's inner circle, of trying to end her political career.

Martin's team has denied the charge.

Parrish said she doesn't believe the Martin team is targetting anybody, and said she welcomes an open nomination process to help rejuvenate the party.

Both disputes have been triggered by Martin's call at the November Liberal leadership convention for an open nomination process along with a redrawing of electoral boundaries expected in 2004.

That process will see Mahoney's riding of Mississauga-West transformed into Mississauga-Streetsville, and Parrish's riding of Mississauga-East transformed into Mississauga-Erindale, according to a Elections Canada.

Mahoney claims 60 per cent of his old riding is in the new Mississauga-Erindale riding, and says he won't run anywhere else.

Only 40 per cent of Parrish's old riding is found in the new riding, he says.

But Parrish claims 50 per cent of her old riding is within Mississauga-Erindale boundaries, saying she "has no choice" but to run there.

"He had two choices. So it's odd."