BIRMINGHAM — British campaigners staged a vigil for Malala Yousafzai Thursday as doctors said the 14-year-old Pakistani girl shot in the head by the Taliban remained in a stable condition. The teenager is being treated at a hospital in Birmingham, central England, having been flown to Britain on Monday for specialist care. “Malala Yousafzai's condition remains stable. She spent a third comfortable night in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham and doctors are pleased with her progress so far,” the hospital said in a statement. “The various specialist consultants from both the Queen Elizabeth and Birmingham Children's hospitals continue to assess her on a daily basis.” Her family remain in Pakistan, added the hospital, which also treats British soldiers wounded in Afghanistan. Malala was shot on a school bus in the former Taliban stronghold of the Swat valley last week as a punishment for campaigning for the right of girls to an education, in an attack which outraged the world. In Birmingham city center, a dozen activists from Women2Gether and Amina Women's Group staged a vigil outside the main local authority buildings. Participants held small cardboard placards reading “I am Malala”, lit white candles, and laid two bunches of pink and yellow flowers on the ground. An Amina Women's Group member told reporters: “Brave Malala said what so many of us wish to say but we are too afraid. “A girl of 14 spoke out for the rights of women and girls in a region where fundamentalism is fighting to take hold. “For this she was shot in the head. Like so many around the world, we are moved and inspired by her bravery and wish her and her friends a speedy recovery.”Messages of support have been left on the hospital's website, most lauding her campaigning and praying for her recovery. Donations towards her care, which is being funded by the Pakistani government, are being received by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital's charity. Meanwhile, Pakistani intelligence officials said one of the two Taliban militants suspected of attacking Malala was detained by the Pakistani military in 2009 but subsequently released. The military detained Attaullah and several of his associates during the army's 2009 offensive in Swat because of suspected ties with the Pakistani Taliban, which had established effective control over the valley at the time, said two intelligence officials. The military successfully pushed most of the militants out of Swat, but Attaullah was released because of a lack of evidence linking him to specific attacks, said the officials. Authorities have detained several of Attaullah's family members, but he remains at large, said the officials. — Agencies
