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Gabrielle Giffords, the US congresswoman injured in the Arizona shooting, had lived in fear of being shot but refused to cut back public appearances because of her sense of duty, her astronaut husband has revealed.

Mark Kelly, a Nasa space shuttle commander, said his wife had frequently voiced concerns about her safety, including just two weeks before the Tucson attack.

"She'd received death threats before … just part of what we've been dealing with for the last year," he said in a TV interview. "She says, 'You know, some day I'm really worried somebody's going to come up to me at one of these events with a gun.'"

And speaking to local media at the Tucson hospital where Ms Giffords is recovering, he spoke of how his wife tolerated sometimes aggressive confrontations from constituents. He said: "She'd say, 'Hey, people have the right to tell me what they think ... that's part of democracy."

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