RIYADH, 24 January 2004 — Filipina Siamese twins, May and Ann, will be separated at King Abdul Aziz Medical City here within the next four weeks.
“We are not doing this operation here for any material gains or publicity,” Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeea, head of the medical team assigned to conduct the complex operation, Al-Watan newspaper reported. “The operation will be conducted by a 40-member team of experts three or four weeks after carrying out the necessary tests on the babies,” he said.
Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, ordered the separation of the twins at the hospital at his personal expense.
The twins, joined in the abdomen and pelvis, were born on Nov. 12 to a poor family in Barangay Obavo in Cebu Province. They arrived here on Thursday.
Last October, a medical team, led by Dr. Rabeea, separated Egyptian Siamese twins Taliya and Taleen at King Abdul Aziz Medical City, the seventh such operation in Saudi Arabia and the fourth at the National Guard hospital.
The operation was televised live to millions of viewers in the Kingdom and the Arab world via satellite by Arab Radio and Television satellite channel and the Internet. The 21-strong team was made up largely of Saudi nationals.
“Our experience in the field of separating Siamese twins is one of the best in the world,” Dr. Rabeea said.
Asked whether there was any plan to market the Kingdom’s experience, he replied in the negative. “We are doing this service to people as a humanitarian gesture irrespective of nationality,” he said.
“Every team member has played his role to make these operations a success,” he explained, declining to take individual credit for previous successes.
In September 2002, Saudi surgeons successfully separated Malaysian Siamese twins, joined at the stomach, who were born at King Abdul Aziz Medical City.
