Norma Kandari, 40, grew up in Marlborough and moved to Kuwait in 1983. She was there at the time of the Iraqi invasion in 1990. She still lives there with husband Fahad. This is her diary of life in the war zone.

Thursday, March 20

AWOKEN this morning by the ringing of the telephone, it is Fahad's mum calling to say that the war has started. "Are you coming for lunch, if so, make sure Norma wears the hejab and abaya when you drive here.''

My mother-in-law had made sure I had the full Kuwaiti women's dress in case of war so that I would not be recognized as British when out and about.

Joking apart, my husband has been moaning at me for weeks to fly to the UK where I would be safe.

I call Karen (a friend who is closer to Mutlaa Ridge) to tell them about the commencement of the war, they are still sleeping also, and I wake them up.

Lunchtime arrives and I return a call to Karen, who tells me the sirens are going off. I open the window in the lounge and sure enough, in the distance I can just about hear a siren. I scream at Fahad: "The sirens are going off, get out of the shower quickly.''

"Okay, get in the bedroom and don't move,'' Fahad yells back at me as I still wander around the flat wondering what to do next and for some strange reason decide that we need the digital camera in the bedroom with us.

We prepared our little shelter the night before having decided that the master bedroom would be the best bet because we would have the bathroom included. We sealed up all openings: windows, air conditioning grills, light openings and so on with thick plastic. We have a stock of drinking water, washing water, a box of tinned food, biscuits, crisps, chocolates, we certainly won't go hungry.

I had not believed that we would really hear the sirens and can honestly claim to have paid no attention whatsoever to the details of the difference between the various sirens which was a mistake.

Thankfully, Fahad had kept the booklet provided by the ministry for such situations. Frankly I had found it all rather confusing, what should we do? In the event of an incoming chemical attack we should go to a room on the roof. In the event of incoming bombing we should go to a room in the basement, how are we supposed to know what is incoming when we hear the sirens?

We sit huddled in the bathroom listening to the radio and then suddenly Arabic music begins to play. And finally the siren to indicate the all clear.

The second siren came as I was preparing lunch. Which obviously got put on hold. We were more relaxed and had the routine sorted by then. We also decided to leave the electricity so that we could keep the television working in the bedroom, to monitor the sirens.

As the day progressed two more sirens went off, the fourth when I was preparing dinner. I think we'll give up preparing food for lunch and dinner, since it seems to set off the sirens.

A quiet evening, siren wise, although we had a period of 30 minutes where we kept hearing loud bangs which could have been bombs dropping, or aircraft taking off from the ships in the Gulf.

It's 11pm and I think it's time for bed. We've decided to keep the TV in the bedroom on low so that we hear the sirens, so sleep will not be plentiful I fear. What a day.

Friday, March 21

WE had a restless night really, two alarms went off. This morning's news shows the first casualties of war from the Allies, a helicopter crash has left eight British soldiers and four American crew dead.

The sky is murky this morning, it looks like rain is on the way and I feel sorry for the soldiers out in the desert. Rain in Kuwait is not refreshing like elsewhere; it is almost like mud raining from the sky, it must be so much worse in the desert.

I discover from the news that the murky sky has nothing to do with rain really, it is the smoke from oil fires in Basrah. What a reminder of my return to Kuwait after the Gulf War when the skies were black most of the day and it rained oil.

Sirens went off again mid morning, very short this time round. Life soon returned back to normal. Fahad spoke with the family and discovered the sirens in the middle of the night were set off after a scud had been sent over towards the oil refinery in Ahmadi, it had missed the target but had gone down with a lot of noise.

My friend called shortly after lunch to say that the B52s were starting their engines in the UK. This means we can expect them to be hitting Baghdad around 8pm tonight.

By 11pm I think it's time for bed. The B52s have been bombing Iraq, the skies have been lit up for the past few hours. I wonder what the damage will be in the morning when assessment takes place.

Have they managed to kill Saddam and his sons? Will Saddam send some chemical weapons over to us tonight?

Saturday, March 22

I DECIDE to get up at 8am, a bit of a late start, but then I did not get to sleep until after 2am this morning because of sirens, so not complaining.

It is now official. Operation Shock and Awe is under way. Where do the Americans find these rather descriptive names for operations?

British Tornedoes paved the way for the B52 bombers yesterday evening, followed by Tomahawk cruise missiles and B2 fighters and the F117s. Gosh what a mess the city of Baghdad must be, it seems that a dawn raid has also taken place this morning.

As we watched the bombing of Baghdad last night, Fahad and I wondered about the civilians in the area - it is all quite nerve racking for us having to keep heading for the shelter, not going out for fear that a raid will take place and we won't be near a shelter, not knowing if chemical weapons are going to come flying over towards us or not.

How on earth must the civilians of Iraq be coping with the bombs dropping everywhere?

After thinking it had been quiet all day, Fahad decides to pop out for ten minutes and, of course, the sirens decide to go off again. The first time I have been alone.

It's 10 pm and I am off to bed. The news reports repeated air assaults on Baghdad. I wish this would finish quickly life has to go on.

Sunday, March 23

A TRAGEDY for the American troops in Northern Kuwait as one of their own turns on them, or so it seems from the news. A soldier apparently has thrown hand grenades into three tents injuring 12 and killing one, terrible news. One does not expect to be injured or killed at the hands of a fellow soldier on purpose.

We decide to venture out today and visit our Hotel Club. Karen met up with us along with another friend, all are feeling a bit weary from staying inside.

What a release, we saw the helicopters flying in the distance but in general, apart from the club being empty, one could not believe we were sitting near a war zone.

The Iraqis claim to have taken PoWs and proceed to show on Al Jazira TV footage of dead soldiers, who appear to be Americans, and the interview of an American PoW. This war is going to get worse, Saddam has a lot to answer for.

Monday, March 24

WOKEN up by Fahad at 5.30am to the sound of the sirens. We amble to the bathroom, covering the door with towels. Ten minutes and the all clear siren can be heard.

Difficult to get back to sleep after the siren so we both get up and start the day listening to the news channels.

I still cannot get from my mind the sight of those poor soldiers. The Iraqis have reported this morning that they will look after their PoWs as they always have. What a load of rubbish, how can they stand there talking such nonsense in front of reporters?

What has happened to the missing Kuwaiti PoWs? Isn't it about time people realise that you cannot believe a word that comes out of the mouths of the Iraqi President or his Ministers?

Tuesday, March 25

I VENTURE out to stock up on shopping. I must look odd in my cap and sunglasses (in a thunderstorm).

Kuwait is a small country of a population of approximately 2.5 million, out of which only 800,000 or so are of Kuwaiti nationality.

The remainder is made up of a mix of many different nationalities including Iraqis. The possibility of terrorist actions against the British and Americans cannot be discounted.

As I drive down the Gulf Road I find myself hesitating as I approach red traffic lights, not wanting to get too close to the cars in other lanes already at a standstill.

There are plenty of police at each traffic light but I still recall the incident some months ago when an American was killed waiting at the traffic lights.