Mrs Thatcher - during a visit to the Gulf Support group in London, which keeps a tally on British people in Iraq and Kuwait - was asked what would happen to the diplomats if troops went into the British embassy: [end p1]
Thatcher Act
They will stay there for as long as they possibly can, and if anything happens to them it will be the responsibility of the Iraqis - indeed, the whole of this is the responsibility of a dictator who seized another country by force, guns and tanks, and all this is due down to him.
(2) The Times, 25 August 1990 [end p2]Thatcher warning on hostage children
Margaret Thatcher yesterday expressed her deep concern after hearing that up to five unaccompanied British children are hostages in the Gulf and she warned President Saddam that she would hold him personally responsible if anything happened to the Western detainees.
The prime minister was told about the plight of the youngsters only hours after it was confirmed that Alan Barnett, aged 15, had arrived safely in Jordan after being released by the Iraqis.
Mrs Thatcher was told about the children, three of whom were on the British Airways flight stranded in Kuwait, when she visited the Gulf Support Group, set up by relatives and friends of people stranded in the Middle East. She spent 40 minutes with volunteers who are manning the 24-hour helpline in central London and talked to Alan and Julie Jones who explained how they escaped across the desert to Saudi Arabia.
“I am very concerned for the relatives and about some children who cannot be traced,” Mrs Thatcher said later. She warned President Saddam not to take any steps that might endanger British people, especially diplomats remaining in Kuwait. “If anything happens to them it will be the responsibility of a dictator, who seized another country with force, guns and tanks. Every bit of the blame is down to him.”
Robert Hayward, the Conservative MP for Kingswood, Bristol, who helped set up the support group, said that he knew where three children were in Baghdad and Kuwait. There was one other child definitely in the area whose whereabouts was unknown and it was possible a fifth child was also there.
The family of Stuart Lockwood, aged five, who was seen on television being cuddled by President Saddam, yesterday said they had been repulsed. “Stuart looked frightened to death. It was a terrible thing to make a boy of that age go through. I would have been frightened and I am a grown man,” said Philip Campbell, Stuart's uncle. Stuart's parents, Derek and Glenda Lockwood, and elder brother Craig were also among the hostages filmed in Baghdad.