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Iraq orphan Ali arrives in Britain
LONDON, England -- Iraqi bomb victim Ali Abbas, who lost his arms and his parents in a U.S. raid early in the Iraq war, has arrived in Britain for artificial limb surgery. The 13-year-old flew to Royal Air Force base Northolt in west London Thursday with his uncle and Ahmed Mohammed Hamza, a 14-year-old boy who lost his left leg below the knee and his right hand during a bombardment. The boys are to be fitted with prosthetic limbs at Queen Mary's Rehabilitation Center in Roehampton, southwest London. Kuwait's government has promised to pay for the treatment until they reach adulthood, and Kuwait's health minister, Mohammed al-Jarrallah, accompanied the boys and their relatives to the airport. He said he expected the boys to be in Britain for about three months initially. "As far as we are concerned, we are committed to treating them until they are fully grown," he told the UK Press Association. Ali's story drew international attention after pictures of him crying in pain at a Baghdad hospital were broadcast across the world. One UK newspaper raised £270,000 ($440,000) to help pay for his treatment. Ali was evacuated to Kuwait in mid-April and treated for severe burns caused when a missile struck his house near Baghdad, killing his father, his pregnant mother, his brother and 13 other family members. At Kuwait airport's VIP hall Thursday, three members of the U.S. Army military police who have been reuniting children treated in Kuwait with their families, visited the boys and gave them camouflage hats and arm bands. "I'm going to miss them," Maj. Kate Van Auken, of Gloucester, Massachusetts, told The Associated Press. Kuwait, a major U.S. ally and the launch pad for the U.S.-led war on Iraq, is also going to pay for psychological care for the boys and their families, and repairs to their homes in Iraq. Zafar Khan, chairman of the Limbless Association, which helped bring Ali to London, said the boy was in good spirits when they met recently in Kuwait. "He was asking me the right kind of questions after learning that I also wear a prosthetic limb," Kahn told CNN. "He was asking, can I run? I said, "No, sorry, I can't run." And he asked me to stand on my right leg, my prosthesis, if I can balance. So, he was very alert, very cheerful." The Limbless Association has raised more than $400,000 for Ali's care and hopes his plight may lead to three or four rehabilitation centers being created in Iraq. Meanwhile, Canada has granted permission for Ali and five of his relatives to emigrate there after being sponsored by an Ontario emergency room doctor, CTV News reported Wednesday. Dr. Falih Hafuth, a father of three from Cambridge, Ontario, has been trying to adopt Ali for some time and traveled to Kuwait last month to visit him. Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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