Malala grateful for global support

Malala, the teenager being treated in Britain for gunshot wounds inflicted by the Taliban in Pakistan, on Friday thanked her global supporters, one month on from the brutal attack. "She wants me to tell everyone how grateful she is and is amazed that men, women and children from across the world are interested in her well-being," said her father Ziauddin Yousafzai, on behalf of the 15-year-old. "We deeply feel the heart-touching good wishes of the people across the world of all caste, colour and creed," he said in a statement issued by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, where Malala is being treated. Her father added: "I am awfully thankful to all the peace-loving well-wishers who strongly condemn the assassination attempt on Malala, who pray for her health and support the grand cause of peace, education, freedom of thought and freedom of expression." The hospital on Friday published photos of Malala sitting and reading a book, while others showed her poring over get-well cards. Armed men in Mingora, the main town in the Swat valley (northwest Pakistan), shot Malala in the head and shoulder on October 9 after stopping the school bus on which she was travelling. The attack was claimed by the insurgent Taliban Movement of Pakistan (TTP), allied to Al-Qaeda. They claimed to have targeted Malala because of her "pioneering role" in calling for girls' education, and because of her general criticism of the Taliban. The teenager was transferred on October 15 to the central England hospital, which specializes in the treating British soldiers wounded in Afghanistan.