President visits shot schoolgirl

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9 December 2012

The President of Pakistan has visited a 15-year-old schoolgirl who is being treated in hospital in Britain after being shot in the head by a Taliban gunman.

President Asif Ali Zardari also met with the father and brothers of Malala Yousafzai during a private meeting at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

In a statement issued after the visit, the hospital said President Zardari had been briefed by its medical director about Malala's progress and future treatment.

A statement released by the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust said: "The president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, visited the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham on Saturday to receive an update on the recovery of schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai.

"President Zardari, accompanied by his daughter Asifa Bhutto, met with clinicians who have been treating Malala since her admission to the hospital on October 15.

"They were brought up to date on the 15-year-old's medical progress and her future treatment plan by (the trust's) medical director, Dr Dave Rosser.

"President Zardari and Asifa Bhutto then had a short five-minute private meeting with Malala, her father Ziauddin and her brothers Khushal Khan and Atal Khan."

During the visit, the hospital added, the president had thanked staff for their outstanding care and had described Malala as a "remarkable girl and a credit to Pakistan".

Malala suffered gunshot wounds when she was targeted by the Taliban as she travelled home from school with two classmates in north-west Pakistan.

The teenager, who was attacked after promoting the education of girls and criticising Taliban militants, was hit just above her left eye by a bullet which grazed the edge of her brain.

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