US military flew HRH Prince Khalifa to Mayo clinic in US

Agencies | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa was flown into America for hospital care by the US military two months ago, acknowledged the US State Department yesterday.

In a report carried by the Stars and Stripes, the state Department said the care offered to Prince Khalifa came just after the military flew Kuwait’s late ruling emir to the same Mayo Clinic hospital in Minnesota.

The article said this underlines the importance US has for the island Kingdom.

Both countries host major US military bases in the region and are considered major non-NATO allies, granting them military and economic privileges with America.

According to stripes, On September 18, a US Air Force C-17 Globe- master III “flying hospital” took off from Germany and landed in Rochester, Minnesota, the home of the flagship campus of the Mayo Clinic. It was followed to Rochester by a Boeing 767 owned by Bahrain’s royal family.

The report, however, says the Mayo Clinic at the time and since has declined to comment on the care it provided to Prince Khalifa, who died Wednesday at age 84.

The Air Force uses such C-17s for medical evacuations, triaging critically wounded soldiers while rapidly flying them onto major bases. The aircraft include onboard oxygen and the same lifesaving equipment found in hospital emergency rooms. The flights often include critical care air transport teams comprised of a specialised doctor, a nurse and a respiratory therapist.

The State Department acknowledged the C-17 flight carried Prince Khalifa in a statement Friday to The Associated Press, stripes report said.

“In September, the United States provided medical transportation assistance to Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, a US friend and ally,” it said.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier offered condolences to Bahrain over Prince Khalifa’s death.

“As the prime minister of Bahrain since its independence, Prince Khalifa was a statesman of the highest order and will always be known as a close friend and partner of the United States,” Pompeo said.

A Bahrain royal family Boeing 747 brought Prince Khalifa’s body home from Minnesota on Thursday.

Bahrain is home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, which patrols the waterways of the Mideast.