A couple who have been caught up in the conflict in the Holy Land are back at home with their family.

Colin and Kathy South have returned to Essex for the first time since they found themselves caught up in the Middle East troubles in October.

Even at the height of the violence, Quakers Mr and Mrs South, of Witham, never had any doubts they would see their home and their family again.

The couple live and work in the Israeli city of Ramallah and witnessed the much-publicised murders of three policemen by a Palestinian lynch mob.

They fled from the troubled city to Jerusalem with a television news crew, but returned to Ramallah - where Mr South works as the administrative director of two Quaker schools - soon afterwards.

Mr and Mrs South got back to Essex on Christmas Eve and have been catching up with family and friends.

They are due to fly back to Israel on January 9.

"It is good to be back home. There has not been a time when I thought we would never get back," said Mr South, 55, today.

"We have not seen everybody yet. We've only been back for a few days. We don't anticipate any problems in getting back. It's a lot better than it was - it has improved in Ramallah itself."

Mr South added: "I'm hoping that things will be a bit more positive when we get back."

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.