Blind and weak, Iraqi girl discharged from hospital

Blind and weak, Iraqi girl discharged from hospital

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AMMAN, Jordan (January 17, 2000 http://www.nandotimes.com) - A 5-year-old girl who became a
symbol of the plight of Iraqi children under U.N. sanctions was discharged from an Amman hospital on Sunday
after she was treated for neurological disorders that followed leukemia treatment in Scotland two years ago.

Mariam Hamza, her father and grandmother were scheduled to begin a 12-hour overland trip back to Baghdad
later Sunday. U.N. sanctions ban international flights to and from Iraq.

Mariam looked healthy as she walked unaided in a corridor at Amman's al-Amal Center for Cancer Treatment.

When she was admitted to the center three months ago, doctors said her disorders - manifested as seizures,
weakness and blindness - were linked to the leukemia treatment she underwent a year earlier in Scotland.

Maha Arnaoot, the Amman center's leukemia specialist, said Mariam's seizures were "under control" and will
gradually fade, but the blindness and physical weakness were permanent.

"Unfortunately, Mariam will never see again in her life and although she is going to be permanently weak and
will never regain her full strength, she will be active and mobile," Arnaoot said.

She said Mariam underwent several chemotherapy sessions here to ensure there was no recurrence of
leukemia. She said the girl will be given one last treatment at the end of the month in Iraq.

Mariam was treated for leukemia in Scotland in 1998. Her treatment was initiated by British Member of
Parliament George Galloway, who spotted her in a Baghdad hospital during a trip designed to publicize the
effects of sanctions on ordinary Iraqis.

Sanctions were imposed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. In an effort to ease the impact on ordinary
Iraqis, the United Nations allows Iraq to sell $5.2 billion worth of crude oil every six months to buy food, medicine
and humanitarian supplies. Iraq insists on a total lifting of the sanctions.