Ref. 72619-22IRAQI surgeon Thamir Yasen says the war against Saddam Hussein was justified despite a report showing the tyrant was not stockpiling weapons.

Opposition MPs have seized on the Iraq Survey Group report, saying it demolishes the case for war.

But it has not weakened the Great Western Hospital eye specialist's support for military action.

He says the invasion was warranted because Saddam was toppled and is now languishing in a prison cell.

"The war was justified on a humanitarian basis," said Mr Yasen, who lived under the dictator's grip and lost friends and relatives to his henchman

"The removal of this evil man is something the coalition forces should be congratulated on. About 10 of my relatives and friends simply disappeared.

"They were taken to prison, and never seen again.

"Just imagine what that is like for their mothers and fathers

"They were too frightened to ask what had happened to them because it would have led to them being arrested and possibly tortured and killed.

"My nephew was just 18 when he was taken prisoner and never seen again.

"I remember when Saddam came to power, in a speech to the nation he said he was there to stay.

"He also said the regime would choose its enemies, meaning you were not an enemy by choice.

"Without this war, he would have remained in power until he died."

The 53-year-old father-of-five from Lawn fled Iraq for the UK in 1981, but he follows events in his home country closely.

His support for the British and US coalition is not diminished by the daily reports of bombings and shootings as the forces struggle to keep order.

"Just as medicine has side effects, so did the war," said Mr Yasen, whose three brothers and two sisters are still in Iraq.

"It is obviously unfortunate, and I don't think anyone predicated it would be this bad.

"But you have to remember that without the war, Saddam would still be in power.

"When I lived in Iraq, we called it the republic of terror.

"It was the happiest day of my life when they dragged him out of that hole."

Despite the views of former Iraqis like Mr Yasen, Prime Minister Tony Blair was today facing fresh criticisms over his decision to go to war.

Critics like Devizes MP Michael Ancram, shadow foreign secretary, said the Government has misled the British people by claiming Iraq could produce weapons of mass destruction.

The CIA-led Iraq Survey Group said Saddam did not have the capability to make biological, chemical or nuclear weapons.

Tamash Lal