Iraqi boy who lost arms in US bombing attack to receive the latest artificial limbs
Ali Ismail Abbas, age 12, arrived for treatment at Al-Babtain Burns Center at Ibn Sina Hospital in Kuwait City.
LONDON (AFP) a 12-year-old boy, who came to symbolize the human tragedy of the Iraq war when he lost both arms and was orphaned in a US bombing, will receive state-of-the-art artificial limbs, a doctor treating him told the BBC.
Ali Ismail Abbas was out of danger, said Ibrahim Ghaniem, interviewed in Kuwait where the victim is being treated.
"Ali is out of danger. We controlled the infection," he told BBC 1 television.
"We are optimistic to provide him with
a bio-electric hand for the right and a prosthetic for the left.
"We are in contact with the specialist centre for artificial
limbs. We are looking for the most sophisticated in the field."
Ali, who also received severe burns and
lost both parents in the Baghdad attack, had threatened
he would take his life if he could not have artificial limbs.
He was reported to be making a solid recovery from surgery in Kuwait while offers of help have been flooding in.
The child's arms were amputated above the elbow in Baghdad after he was the sole survivor among 20 others killed when their house was hit in an attack by the US-British coalition on 30 March.
His suffering sparked a high-profile international campaign to save his life and won sympathy from around the globe.
His first in a series of operations was performed just hours after arriving in Kuwait, where he was diagnosed with burns to more than 20 percent of his body.
Ali's plight, captured in news broadcasts and pictures that went around the world, turned him into a symbol of the civilian suffering in the conflict.
Charities and British media raised funds to airlift him out of Iraq and helped publicise his story.