Schoolgirl shot by Taliban arrives in UK
A Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen for speaking out about suffering under the regime has arrived in the UK for treatment.
Malala Yousafzai, 14, was flown today to Birmingham Airport and will be taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital to receive specialist medical care.
The teenager was shot on a bus in front of her friends last Tuesday in what British Foreign Secretary William Hague described as a "barbaric attack".
Her life was saved by neurosurgeons in a Pakistani military hospital and she has since been in intensive care.
Doctors there decided she needed "prolonged care" to help her recover from the physical and psychological effects of the attack.
Mr Hague said: "Malala's bravery in standing up for the right of all young girls in Pakistan to an education is an example to us all.
"Malala will now receive specialist medical care in an NHS hospital. Our thoughts remain with Malala and her family at this difficult time.
"The public revulsion and condemnation of this cowardly attack shows that the people of Pakistan will not be beaten by terrorists. The UK stands shoulder to shoulder with Pakistan in its fight against terrorism."
Malala was shot with two classmates as they made their way home from school in Swat, in the north west of Pakistan.
She was attacked by the Taliban for promoting the education of girls and criticising the militant group.
The teenager has been transferred to the UK by an air ambulance arranged by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Pakistani army said.
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital has a trauma ward which treats British personnel wounded in Afghanistan.
In a statement, the Pakistani authorities said: "The panel of doctors recommended that Malala be shifted abroad to a UK centre which has the capability to provide integrated care to children who have sustained severe injury."
A specially-equipped air ambulance arranged by Pakistan and the UAE has been used to transfer the girl.
She was accompanied by an army intensive care specialist who provided continued care during the trip.
"All expenses including transportation of Malala by specially equipped air ambulance and treatment abroad will be borne by the government of Pakistan," the statement added.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said all transport, migration, medical, accommodation and subsistence costs for Malala and her party were being footed by the Pakistani government.
The spokeswoman said: "We offered last Thursday our help to the government of Pakistan in caring for her because she does need particular specialist care."
Asked if she will be provided with guards at the hospital, the spokeswoman said: "You wouldn't expect me to talk about security matters in detail but certainly security has been taken into account."
Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is UN Special Envoy for Global Education, said he would be visiting Pakistan next month to speak with President Asif Ali Zardari about Malala's cause of education for girls.
He said: "I know that Britain will offer Malala the best treatment possible and the British people will welcome her, hoping and praying for her recovery."
He added: "Today we are launching on www.educationenvoy.org a petition under the headline 'I am Malala' in support of what Malala fought for - that every girl has the chance to go to school.
"Today, sadly, 32 million girls are not going to school and it is time to fight harder for Malala's dream to come true."
The petition will be handed to Mr Zardari and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Dr Dave Rosser, medical director at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, said some of his colleagues were out in Pakistan when Malala was shot and was one of the reasons the hospital got involved.
But the hospital is the receiving centre for British military casualties so has a range of specialist staff and facilities.
Saying that it was likely Malala would be treated for months rather than weeks, Dr Rosser added: "We do unfortunately have very extensive experience of dealing with this sort of traumatic bullet related injury … our experience with battle casualties, and you can deal with her as a battle casualty from a physiological point of view, is that patients need lots of different specialities.
"We have had patients here who have been seen by 17 different specialities in the first 24 hours and that's part of our unique selling point and why we're in a good position to deal with this sort of thing."
