‘Orphan Ali’ makes a strong recovery

Ali Ismail Abbas, a 12-year-old boy who became the face of Iraqi civilian suffering during the U.S.-led war against Saddam Hussein, has made a strong recovery from the wounds he suffered when an errant American bomb hit his Baghdad home.

Ali, whose parents and more than a dozen other close relatives died in the March 30 strike, lost both arms and suffered severe burns over more than a third of his body. His tear-filled eyes and desperate pleas for his lost limbs, broadcast from his Baghdad hospital bed in the days after the incident, sparked a global wave of sympathy and concern.

Today, according to visitors and the doctors treating him at a Kuwaiti burn center, “Orphan Ali” has left the intensive care unit, is taking brief walks on his own and has responded well to skin-graft treatment as he weighs multiple offers to be fitted for prosthetic arms.

He is receiving regular schooling at the Kuwaiti hospital and has been assigned a consulting psychologist to deal with the trauma of the attack, much of which he does not recall.

“He’s walking, he’s talking, he’s in very good spirits, he’s making jokes,” said Dr. Felah Hafuth, a Cambridge, Ontario, physician who spoke with Ali by telephone Tuesday.

“He was obviously very depressed at first, but he’s in the best spirits since I first began speaking with him,” said the Iraqi-born Dr. Hafuth, who hopes to bring the boy to Canada to live with his family.

The global publicity campaign surrounding the boy’s plight has sparked a nasty competition among various aid groups eager to help Ali while promoting their own organizations, critics say.

Ali was moved from Baghdad to Kuwait City’s al-Babtain Center for Burns and Plastic Surgery, with the Kuwaiti government covering his extensive medical bills. Mohammed Abed Hamzah, a cousin of Ali’s father whom the boy refers to as his uncle, serves as his guardian.

Ali’s right arm was amputated just above the elbow, while his left arm was amputated closer to his shoulder, complicating the task of fashioning artificial limbs.

Taraq al-Mezram, a spokesman for the Kuwaiti Information Office in Washington, said the government decided early on to finance all the necessary medical care for Ali, even if it proved necessary to import specialists from abroad.

Ali’s case “has been an issue of great interest in our country,” Mr. al-Mezram said. “He is a symbol of the war for us. For Kuwaitis, this is a human story, not a political story.”

There has been no official count of civilian casualties in the Iraqi campaign, but it is expected the final tally will number in the thousands. Some 3,500 Iraqi civilians died in the 1991 Persian Gulf war, mostly from errant air strikes, and the toll in the just-ended campaign may end up higher, according to the most recent estimates.

A handful of other Iraqi children hurt in the war are receiving similar aid in Kuwait, but Ali’s story has garnered by far the most popular attention, with prominent Kuwaiti singers and actors visiting his hospital bed.

Ali’s mental state also has improved markedly, according to those who have talked with the boy.

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