Nasrah Al Shamery, 44, was arrested and charged with insulting the Emir of Kuwait as the family was about to board a plane to return to Australia at the end of what had been a pleasant holiday visiting relatives late last year.

Mrs Al Shamery was convicted and sentenced to two years' jail.

A successful appeal led to her release and return to Australia on June16.

The six months Mrs Al Shamery spent in a tiny cell with little food or warmth were, she told ABC TV last week, the hardest she had experienced in her life.

Sons Abdulrahman, 19, and Abdulazziz, 23, were also arrested.

They were later released without charge.

Abdulrahman told the Sun of the family's anguish: ``At one stage we thought [Mrs Al Shamery] would die in there. She had no food, no blankets. My mother can't forget it.

``We will never go back after the way they treated us [in Kuwait] and we feel very let down by the Australian Government.''

He said the family would probably never travel outside Australia again.