RIYADH,7 January 2005 — Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski has thanked Crown Prince Abdullah for his” act of benevolence which led to the successful separation of the 15-month-old conjoined twins, Polish Ambassador Adam Kulach said here yesterday.
In a letter to the crown prince, the Polish president also expressed his admiration for the medical team led by Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, which carried out the marathon operation on Monday to separate the Polish twins.
Prince Abdullah visited the King Abdul Aziz Medical City here on Wednesday and inquired about the condition of the separated twins.
On arrival at the hospital, Prince Abdullah who was “deeply moved to see the twins”, who greeted the crown prince in a language of love, warmth and innocence.
After visiting the hospital where the twins are recovering in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Prince Abdullah said that “it shows the human face of the Saudi nation. We are servants of humanity, a lesson which is taught by Islam.”
Prince Abdullah, who expressed his happiness, said that “this operation is one of the many achievements made by the Kingdom in the field of health and medicine”.
The crown prince said that he was deeply moved when one of the separated twins, Daria and Olga Kolacz, held his hand. “I saw one of them extending her hand and I held her hand and greeted her. What I have seen today was heartening”, said Prince Abdullah adding that Saudi Arabia holds high respect and appreciation for the friendly Polish people. The crown prince was also reassured about the condition of the twins.
Referring to the progressively growing Saudi-Polish relations, Ambassador Kulach thanked and congratulated the crown prince and the entire medical team for the successful surgery. “It demonstrates the growing cordial relations between Riyadh and Warsaw and between the peoples of the two countries,” said the diplomat, who also accompanied the crown prince during the hospital tour. “It is, in fact, a real dialogue between nations and civilizations”, he said.
The ambassador said that “the separated girls have now a chance to lead normal lives”.
Eight twins were separated in the Kingdom in the past following similar initiatives by Prince Abdullah.
The latest one, which involved a 15-hour surgery to separate the conjoined twins was performed on a request made by the mother of the twins, Wieslawa Dabrowska, a 37-year-old seamstress from the central Polish town of Janikowo.
Hospital sources said that the separated babies will be under observation for six weeks before they are released.
