Brave little Mariam on way home

A LITTLE Iraqi girl who received treatment for leukaemia in Scotland was this weekend beginning her journey home after receiving further therapy in the United States.

Six-year-old Mariam Hamza and her grandmother have lived with an Iraqi doctor's family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, since last August. While there, she attended a children's hospital for treatment.

Glasgow Kelvin MP George Galloway, who first brought Mariam to Scotland for treatment in 1998, said: "She's flying in to Jordan from the US. She will be met by my wife in Amman before leaving for Iraq."

Mr Galloway's wife, Dr Amineh Abu-Zayyad, said she was pleased by the girl's state of health although she has irreversible blindness.

She said: "At the moment she's doing very well. She's been going to physiotherapy, she has learned to swim and she's really fit and looking happier."

Mariam, who was first treated at Glasgow's Royal Hospital for Sick Children, provoked a storm of controversy when Mr Galloway brought her to the UK.

The Labour MP and other campaigners claimed that sanctions against the regime of Saddam Hussein were preventing leukaemia patients in Iraq from receiving treatment.

But critics said the MP was playing into the hands of the Iraqi dictator, whom they alleged was using the child as a pawn.

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