Iraqi boy flown to UK for treatment

Iraqi boy flown to UK for treatment

Not all Iraqi children injured in the war get specialist treatment

A 14-year-old burns victim has become the second Iraqi child to be airlifted to the UK for treatment since the war began.

But a 12-year-old boy, who is seriously ill after losing both his arms in a coalition bombing which also killed his parents, is still waiting to find out if he will be helped.

The 14-year-old was flown from southern Iraq to the UK by the RAF, and is now being treated at Birmingham Children's Hospital.

The hospital said the boy, who has not been named, had severe burns which required urgent life-saving treatment that could not be provided in Iraq.

The Ministry of Defence said he was the second child since the beginning of the war brought to Britain under "exceptional circumstances" to undergo medical treatment.

You have all this technology to bomb us... but you cannot spare one aircraft for one day to save a life?

Fatin Sharhah, Nurse

Iraqi boy may die without airlift

Child war victim inspires appeal

Toddler Mareyam Ailan was treated for burns to her face and arms at Liverpool's Alder Hey Children's Hospital earlier this month.

She was taken from Basra to the UK by the British Army after being hurt in a fire which was unrelated to the war.

Meanwhile medics are warning that Ali Ismail Abbas, 12, could die unless he is treated.

Pictures of Ali in his hospital bed have been transmitted around the world, and several UK newspapers have taken up his cause.

Fatin Sharhah, a nurse at the Saddam City Hospital in Baghdad, wrote to US President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair saying: "The situation is desperate. He will die if he stays."

'Out of UK control'

Mr Blair told the House of Commons on Monday the UK would do "whatever we can" to help Ali and other children in similar situations.

But he said Ali was not "inside our area of control", because the US was in charge of Baghdad.

"We are working with the US forces to see what we can do in respect of the case of Ali and in respect of the cases of others," he said.

UK surgery for Iraqi baby

Wounded children look for hope in Kuwait

Ms Sharhah's letter said Ali's condition was deteriorating every day, and that unless he received special care he could die of blood poisoning.

"Please send one of your helicopters or planes," she wrote.

"You have all this technology to bomb us, to make the missile that burned Ali's house, but you cannot spare one aircraft for one day to save a life?"

Tens of thousands of pounds have been raised to help Ali, but UK Conservative MP Caroline Spelman, who is involved in one of the funds, said flying him to the UK may not necessarily be the best option.

"A burns victim is very, very vulnerable and he has to be in a stable condition and it has to be safe to transport him," Mrs Spelman said.