March 20, 2003

London Iraqis - united against Saddam

To watch online

...Yasser Alaskary is a 22-year-old medical student at Imperial College London. His family were forced to flee Iraq when he was just a baby.

They were branded anti-government agents and have not been allowed to return since.

He and his wife Sama Hadad, 22, also a medical student whose family were forcibly deported from Iraq, believe Saddam will continue to kill thousands of Iraqis if he is allowed to stay in power.

"My aunt was raped in front of her husband in the hope that he would talk. They burned my two year-old cousin shortly followed by my aunt.

No opposition
"Millions have died silently in Iraq over the past 20 years. No Iraqi opposes regime change."

Yasser is touched by the anti-war campaigners' level of concern for Iraqis but believes they are misguided.

"If people want to help us then they should pressure the Americans about what replaces Saddam after the war. That is what we are very worried about."

Anxious
Yasser and Sama believe that the Iraqi army will surrender in their thousands but are still very concerned about the human cost of war with Iraq.

Sama said: "I'm quite anxious, thinking about my family back in Iraq. I hope that everything will be okay.

"But I also feel hope and anticipation that this could finally be the end of Saddam."

"The longer it drags on the more casualties they'll be. Hopefully it will be a quick and clean campaign." ....