Armless Iraqi boy to be flown to Kuwait for treatment: report

DUBAI (AFP) Apr 15, 2003
A 12-year-old Iraqi boy who lost both his arms and his family in a missile attack on his home in Baghdad is set to be flown to Kuwait for treatment, CNN reported Tuesday.

Ali Ismail Abbas is among a group of children being flown to Kuwait by the US military for vital treatment, CNN cited the Limbless Association charity as saying.

Limbless Association spokesman Kiera Roche said the Kuwaiti government had volunteered to take Ali.

The association has gathered more than 250,000 dollars as part of a campaign to raise funds to airlift Abbas out of Iraq for specialist treatment.

"What happens to Ali after Kuwait we do not know. If he wants to come to England for further treatment, we will do all our best.

"We have the money for the prosthetics. We did have an air ambulance lined up to airlift him out of Iraq, but today's development will help a lot," Roche said.

Roche, who spoke to Ali's doctor Tuesday, said: "Ali is in a stable condition. He has an infection, but not septicemia."

SPACE.WIRE