UAEG MEDEVACS WOUNDED IRAQIS FOR MEDICAL

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 002488 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/RA, NEA/NGA, PRM/ANE, AND IO/UNP KUWAIT FOR HOC AND ORHA SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: DECL 05/27/08 TAGS: EAID PREL PGOV PHUM IZ TC SUBJECT: UAEG MEDEVACS WOUNDED IRAQIS FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT REF: ABU DHABI 2303 AND PREVIOUS ¶1. (U) Summary and comment: The UAE Red Crescent Authority facilitated 5/21 the medical evacuation from Kuwait of more than two dozen wounded and sick Iraqi civilians and their parental guardians. This was the largest medical airlift of its kind of Iraqi wounded, and fulfilled a long-standing pledge of UAE President Shaykh Zayid Al-Nahyan to bring injured and sick Iraqis to the UAE for free medical treatment. The UAE Air Force has since conducted smaller evacuation flights (three or four patients each) from Baghdad, Mosul, and Basra, with Post's assistance. We applaud the tireless efforts of the Humanitarian Operation Center (HOC) in Kuwait, which oversaw the identification and transport of patients to the waiting UAE aircraft, and provided the required travel documents for the Iraqis' entry into the UAE. End summary and comment. ¶2. (U) Working in conjunction with various medical NGOs in Iraq, the HOC identified and coordinated the transportation of 27 patients and 15 parental guardians to Kuwait International Airport (KIA) 24 hours prior to the airlift. The Iraqi patients were then loaded aboard a UAE presidential Amiri Flight, outfitted with 30 stretchers. According to our colleagues in the HOC who observed the mission, the UAE Red Crescent medical team immediately triaged the patients, and began coordinating their medical requirements in the UAE before the flight departed Kuwait. Upon arrival to Abu Dhabi, the Red Crescent transported the patients to the exclusive Al-Mafraq Hospital -- considered one of the best hospitals in the UAE. The UAE Health Ministry cleared an entire ward for the patients -- seven of who remain in intensive care -- and provided room and board for family members. ¶3. (U) The patients come from all areas of Iraq -- some were transported from the critical care Spanish medical ship in the Gulf -- and include men, women, elderly, and more than 10 children. The Iraqis suffer from various ailments, including war wounds (i.e. shrapnel wounds, gun shot wounds, severe burns) as well as diseases that require specialized treatment not available in Iraq (i.e. cancers and tumors). One child in particular, Ali Mousa Soudi -- suffering from Cystic Hygroma X and requiring immediate laser surgery -- has since become the darling of the UAE press corps. ¶4. (SBU) Comment: It is unfortunate that the initial headline about the airlift in the local newspapers focused on Ali Mousa's father and his false claims that the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait blocked efforts to evacuate his family to the United States. Econoff arranged for a phone call between the Al-Mafraq pediatric surgeon and Ali Mousa's father the day before the airlift, and he was convinced then that his son would receive first-class medical treatment in the UAE. Nevertheless, subsequent news articles here have focused on the positive aspects of the medical airlift and probably will continue to track the progress of the Iraqi patients and their eventual return home. End comment. Wahba