LONDON – The British government has launched an urgent inquiry into the disappearance of an injured Iraqi boy taken into care by the British army seven years ago.
Memmon Salam al-Maliki, then 11, disappeared within days of being taken to a military base in 2003 after being wounded while playing with munitions in Basra.
According to the Guardian, the British authorities told Memmon's father his son was transferred to a US military hospital in Kuwait after 10 days, but have since been unable to give any more information.
A defence ministry spokesman subsequently told Salam al-Maliki his son’s location was unknown, the paper said, and that “all avenues within British military channels had been exhausted”. In 2005, when the last MoD communication with the family occurred, a senior claims officer said Memmon remained missing but there was no evidence of any negligence by British forces, it added.
Memmon was injured in April 2003 while playing near his Basra home. He suffered an eye injury, and lost his left hand and several fingers from his right. He would now be 18. – (PA)