US embassy cable - 03ABUDHABI2488

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