Pakistani activist arrives in UK

After overseeing what they had been deemed a "steady" recovery, Pakistani doctors sent the young shooting victim abroad for further treatment on Monday. The United Arab Emirates provided the air ambulance to transport the shooting victim, who touched down at Birmingham Airport at around 15:50 local time (14:50 GMT).

"The panel of doctors recommended that Malala be shifted abroad to a UK centre which has the capability to provide integrated care to children who have sustained severe injury," the Pakistani military said in a statement.

Doctors at a military hospital near Pakistan's capital Islamabad successfully removed a bullet from Malala Yousafzai last Wednesday. By the weekend, they had determined that Yousafzai would need long-term care in order to recover fully, both physically and psychologically.

Unidentified members of the Taliban shot the 14 year old Yousafzai on October 9, as she was heading home from school in the north-western district of Swat. The shooting came in retaliation for her outspokenness in her campaign to promote girls' education. The attack has sparked international outrage and a reward of $100,000 (77,000 euros) has been offered by the Pakistani government for information regarding her attackers.

Yousafzai rose to fame after highlighting Taliban atrocities in a BBC blog published in 2009, when Islamist militants led by radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah burned girls' schools and terrorized the valley.

Last year Pakistan awarded her the first-ever National Peace Award in recognition of her efforts. She was also nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize.

The Taliban controlled much of Swat from 2007 to 2009 but were supposedly driven out by an army offensive in July 2009.

kms/sej (AFP, Reuters, dpa)