Like most of Colchester, consultant radiologist Dr Mohammed Aldabbagh watched the extraordinary scenes of the toppling of the statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad.
But Dr Mohammed watched with mixed feelings.
His family are in the unliberated city of Mosul in northern Iraq and he last heard from them ten days ago, when they were all right. His mother, sister and brothers are there and have learnt over the years to be careful what they say on the phone.
Dr Mohammed, who has worked at Colchester General Hospital for about 18 years, said: "I think everybody is glad that the tyranny of Saddam Hussein has gone but a lot of people are very sad that the country which has a great history has fallen to occupation once more."
Dr Mohammed came to Britain to study before Saddam came to power but has never returned home after the dictator took charge.
He said: "Once he took over, he obviously brought the country into a lot of terrors and injustice. Those who were able to stay away did."
But after this week's events in Iraq, he said: "I think that the fear of Saddam has been broken."
However, he does not believe that the Americans chose to come to Iraq purely to liberate Iraqis but for interests in oil and to protect their interests in Palestine.
And he added: "What really makes us sad is innocent people getting killed."
He said there was a lot of need in Iraqi hospitals.
And he said the suffering of children like Ali, the boy who lost his family and both arms in a bomb and whose picture has shocked the world, was a "tragedy".
Published Thursday, April 10, 2003
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