A TERRITORIAL Army volunteer who has been writing exclusively for the Evening News from Iraq has had an emotional reunion with his family at his Worcester home.

Nick Balsdon hugged his wife Lucie when he returned to his Nunnery Wood home for a two-week break from the war-torn country on Friday night and proclaimed: "It feels good to be back".

Staff Sgt Balsdon, who is serving in south-east Iraq undertaking construction work with the Royal Engineers, has enthralled readers in the past four months with his first-hand accounts of living through the war.

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"I enjoy writing the articles and I hope they give the people here some sense of what it is like to be in those conditions," he said.

"People always ask me how the Iraqi people react to us being there.

"Well, it is mixed really. The professionals I work with are really nice, and I plan to keep in touch with them.

"However, Iraq is a hostile environment at the moment and it will be particularly difficult next week with the elections."

As he is in the UK for the next fortnight Staff Sgt Balsdon will miss the Iraqi elections, but he has been judging people's reactions to the forthcoming event.

"There is a lot of apathy among the people strangely enough," he added.

"It is partly because they are not used to the idea of having a choice, and I think partly they are nervous - by going to the polls they could be putting their lives at risk."

But thousands of miles away in Worcester, all that seems like another world as he and Lucie take the dog for a walk.

"This is what I missed most," he added. "I'm looking forward to coming back permanently - I'm even eager to return to work."

Apathy rules when your polling station is bombed

n In a piece written before his return to the UK, Staff Sgt Nick Balsdon talks about the impending Iraqi elections

AS the Iraq elections approach, I've been trying to find out how interested normal Iraqis are in the poll.

From a totally unrepresentative sample of around 20 locals, four confirmed their intention to vote.

Unfortunately, for the rest, apathy reigns. Pressed further, the reasons given for not voting sound familiar.

They say they are too busy to register or have little confidence in the candidates.

However, one of those who says he will be voting, told me his polling station had been blown up.

The risks to the voter are very real and may explain some of the people's so-called "apathy".

I've been trying to sow a seed of an idea within one of the UK-based contractors working in Iraq that giving their locally-employed staff a day off over the elections would be a suitable gesture.

Events, however, have overtaken me and an enforced curfew is to be implemented, giving all of them effectively two days "off" work.

Restrictions on movement in Iraq over the election period are severe and interfering in the election process will come at a high price - something which will no doubt be played out in the media.

I'm on leave over this period and will be paying close attention to the polls.

I wish I could say the same for my Iraqi colleagues and contractors.