Doctor says gangrene threat to Seif al-Islam wound

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Doctor says gangrene threat to Seif al-Islam wound

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Gaddafis son Seif al-Islam could develop gangrene if his wound is not treated.

29 November,2011 07:01 am

Seif al-Islam, the son of slain Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi, could develop gangrene if his wound is not treated, the Ukrainian doctor who examined the high-profile captive said.His injury is serious but when I saw him it was not gangrenous. If not treated it can become so, said Andrei Murakhovsky, who dressed Seifs wounded right hand the day after his capture in southern Libya on November 19.Murakhovsky expressed concern over Seifs health after noting that he has not seen him since the initial medical visit on November 20.I was called by the military council. I cleaned the wound and dressed it. But it needs to be dressed again. The military council chief said they will call me again... But they still have not (called), Murakhovsky said.Seif sustained the injury to his right hand in an explosion a month before his capture, causing damage to his index finger and thumb, he added.A National Transitional Council (NTC) official, meanwhile, said Murakhovsky was the only doctor to have treated Seif since his capture.It was the only time that a doctor visited him. It was Andrei (Murakhovsky). No doctor has visited him after that, said Ibrahim Turki, the NTCs health coordinator in the southern Libyan town of Zintan where Seif is being held.Gaddafis son was seen by a team of representatives from the International Committee of the Red Cross on November 22, a day after Murakhovsky, and a spokesman at the time said he appeared to be in good health.The Red Cross officials met Seif for several hours in Zintan but refused to give details of the visit, saying only that the organisations findings would be shared with the detaining authorities only.