Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, the Deputy Premier and Commander of the National Guard, has congratulated the Saudi medical team which conducted a successful separation surgery on Egyptian conjoined twins in Riyadh on Saturday. This was announced by Dr Abdullah Al-Rabee'a, who led the Saudi medical team. He said he had received a telephone call from the Crown prince during the operation hours. 'When I informed him of the success of the operation, he asked me to convey his congratulations to the Saud medical team, the parents of the twins, the Egyptian ambassador to the Kingdom and to the Egyptian people on the occasion of the success of the operation', said Dr Al-Rabee'a. Dr Al-Rabee'a has also received similar cable of congratulations from Prince Badr bin Abdulaziz, the Deputy Commander of the National Guard, and Prince Miteb bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, the Assistant Deputy Commander of the National Guard. The ten-hour operation, divided in seven phases was conducted at King Abdul-Aziz Medical city. Aside from being fused in the lower chest and abdomen, Egyptian twins, Alla and Walaa, who were born on April 19, have an abdominal wall defect called omphalocele, with a diameter of 7.5 centimeters, said Dr Al-Rabee'a, who heads the surgical team. This is the tenth separation operation of conjoined twins by Dr Al-Rabee'a and his team, the last being the Polish twins, Daria and Olga on January 3. All previous ones have been successful. Dr Al-Rabee'a expressed his appreciation to Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz for his fatherly and humane gesture in caring for Alla and Walla and other conjoined twins from all over the world.
