REQUEST FOR SPECIAL MILAIR MEDEVAC FOR SICK

UNCLAS ALGIERS 000524 SIPDIS FROM AMBASSADOR FORD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL MARR AG SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR SPECIAL MILAIR MEDEVAC FOR SICK ALGERIAN CHILD ¶1. A group of Algerians here in Algiers and in the USA has asked the Embassy for USG help airlifting a small child to the U.S. for medical treatment, and our doing so would be a terrific humanitarian gesture that the Algerian public would deeply appreciate. The two and one-half year old child named Tayeb Mounib Ferchichi, who suffers from Spina Bifida, is in the Mustapha hospital in Algiers. According to his doctor here in Algiers, Tayeb needs two separate surgeries: one to correct his malformed spine and another to correct a hole in his back. The child was in a coma but midday April 8 came out. No hospital here can provide the surgeries, and care at the Mustapha hospital is rudimentary. The Algerian-American Business Association in Washington has secured an offer from the Mayo Clinic to treat Tayeb gratis on humanitarian grounds. The challenge now is to get Tayeb to the U.S. Tayeb's family here has no resources, and the Algerian government will not provide resources, at least in any kind of timely manner. The Algerian-American group in the U.S. has raised some funds to help pay of a medevac flight, but the USD 83,000 needed for a commercial medevac well beyond what they have raised so far. ¶2. In Algerian culture children hold a special place, and Tayeb's case has already received coverage in the Algerian independent media, especially Arabic-language papers usually critical of the United States. Our making available a military plane to fly this child to Rochester, Minnesota would generate outstanding media coverage for the U.S. - showcasing the generosity and positive capabilities of our military at a time when the public here generally is quite antipathetic about U.S. military operations in Guantanamo, Iraq and Afghanistan, and also deeply suspicious of our intent behind AFRICOM. It would make a powerful statement about how AFRICOM can respond quickly even in a simple humanitarian case. This, matched with the Mayo Clinic's generous offer, and the role played by Algerian Muslims living in the U.S. would be a strong message that the U.S. is a friend to the Algerian people. FORD