Patrick and family with Saddam

I was working in Kuwait when Iraq invaded on 2 August 1990. I moved in with a colleague and we managed to evade arrest for a month. One morning there was a ring on the doorbell - I looked through the spy hole and saw 10 soldiers with rifles pointing at the door and realised that it was probably best to open up.

I was positioned in Basra to guard the airport, which by this time had been turned into a huge military base. The human shields - five Brits, a couple of Germans and a couple of Japanese - were billeted in workers' accommodation just 200 metres from the fuel dump.

The conditions were rudimentary and the food unutterably bad, but the people who looked after us showed some humanity. They brought us extra food from the market; they gave us a football to relieve the monotony.

Today's 'human shields' are stupid, selfish and likely to die under friendly fire

But it was a harrowing three months. One day I came across two Iraqi men having sex in the showers. They grabbed me, and I could feel the one behind me trying to rape me. I managed to break free and was forced into a corner of the room. I kept saying, 'Leave me alone, I am a father, think of my children' but I don't remember much else. They grabbed me again and I passed out. When I came to, I was alone.

What kept me going was the huge amount of camaraderie among us - we Brits were very grateful that the Japanese and Germans spoke all the time in English, so there was never a feeling of them and us.

Defying Thatcher

What I found hardest was being separated from my nearest and dearest. My wife and three children had been due to join me in Kuwait, but Saddam's invasion meant they'd stayed in the UK.

Iraqi children were also "shields"

Towards the end of October, the Iraqis told us we could have a phone call. When I phoned home for my eldest daughter's 18th birthday, I can remember saying 'Hi, it's Daddy' and bursting into tears. It was the first time we'd spoken since August.

When my wife came on the line, she said she and nine other British women were coming to Baghdad. It was a two-fingered salute to Margaret Thatcher, who didn't seem to be doing enough to get us back. [She was deposed as prime minister the month the women were in Iraq.] One Tory MP [Sir John Stokes] said the women were 'mewling and puking' and should just keep a stiff upper lip, but I can't think of anything more brave.

Mesmerising presence

Two weeks later, we were reunited in a Baghdad hotel. I was in quite a state. My youngest daughter opened the door and said 'Mummy, I think it's Daddy' - I had a beard and was two-and-a-half stone lighter. That was not just a reflection on the terrible food; it was from the incredible fear in the weeks before I'd been arrested.

Many foreign nationals were held

Soon after, we were taken to meet Saddam in a meeting televised across Iraq and Kuwait. Saying he admired the bravery of the wives, he agreed to free us at once and we left Iraq on 27 November.

What struck me was the incredible, eerie charisma of the man. Everybody, but everybody, felt drawn to him. Although I was very conscious of what he could do - if he wanted to - I was fascinated by him. You know the snake in the Jungle Book film? Saddam's voice has a similar effect - it doesn't go up and down but it isn't monotonous.

Inspections, not war

Twelve years on, I feel that going to war is asinine. I would love to see Saddam brought down, but I cannot justify war against Iraqi citizens. Instead I'd like to see him brought to justice, so I've been in involved with Indict's campaign to have him tried for war crimes.

Crowds flocked to join the rally

Last month I joined the million-strong peace march in London. By taking me hostage, Saddam caused me physical and mental pain and immense anguish to my family. Naturally I have every reason to want to see him deposed, but war cannot be the answer.

I'm glad the peace campaigners who went to Baghdad to be human shields are pulling out - I think they are stupid, selfish and very likely to die under friendly fire. They're just playing games. If they knew what it was like to be a hostage, they wouldn't be so insulting.

Send us your comments:

A first-hand account that nobody would quibble with. But the only way to get Saddam inside a war crimes tribunal would be to go in and get him... and that's tantamount to an invasion.
Mike, France

I am a British consultant surgeon, of Iraqi origin. I had to stay outside Iraq for 25 years not seeing my sister and family. I would like to see the end of Saddam asap but not to have my family in Iraq killed by a UK or US bombardment or invasion.
Dr Amir Mukhtar, UK

Patrick's account is an terrible indictment of the brutality and ruthlessness of Saddam's regime, and every law abiding, civilised person would like to see Saddam brought before the International Court of Justice. But would the peace protestors expect this to be achieved through diplomatic means or do they expect Saddam to give himself up voluntarily?
Rae, UK

I am full of respect for Mr Patrick Herbert, but having worked as doctor in conflicts myself, feel that the tyranny cannot be shaken off by anything other than force. I hate war and have been struck by bullets myself, but 6 million Iraqi are malnourished and one in eight children die before the age of five. There has to be a better way to run Iraq but democracy is impossible with SH in power. History has taught us that dictators are only deposed by force or natural death.
Dr Robert Boulton, England

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