I was Saddam’s prisoner

<p>In 1990, when he was just nine years old, <em>Prospect’s </em>Sameer Rahim joined his parents and sister on a holiday to Iraq. What was first a family trip quickly turned into an international diplomatic fiasco. As Saddam Hussein was then facing international condemnation for the Kuwait War, Sameer and his family were taken as so-called “human-shield hostages”: Britons kept within Iraq as bargaining chips. In a personal essay for the current issue of <em>Prospect</em>, Sameer remembers his time cooped up in a Baghdad hotel—and reflects on what the experience has taught him about the many sides of national identity.</p><br><p>You can read Sameer’s essay, I was Saddam’s prisoner, here: <a href="https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/i-was-saddams-prisoner" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/i-was-saddams-prisoner</a></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.</p>