Six Are Arrested for the Attempted Murder of Malala Yousufzai
In positive step in the shooting case of teenage Pakistani blogger Malala Yousufzai, six people accused of facilitating the attack were arrested on Wednesday, though the main suspect remains at large. Pakistani authorities told CNN that Atta Ullah Khan, a 23-year-old man from the Swat district, is the primary suspect, and though the search for him continues, his mother, brother and fiancee have all been detained. Officials have not yet said what role Khan may have played but said the six people arrested aren't accused of direct involvement in the attack. "It's unclear whether Khan was at the scene and tried to shoot Malala or if he was considered the leader behind the plan to kill her," reports CNN's Nasir Habib and Saima Mohsin. Prior to the attack, Khan studied for a Bachelor of Science degree in physics at Jahanzeb College in northwestern Pakistan's Swat Valley.
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Meanwhile, a much sunnier scene is playing out near Malala's bedside, where her father Ziauddin Yousafzai gave a warm interview to The Telegraph's Bob Crilly, expressing amazement at her recovery. "I have seen doomsday and survived, you might say. Malala has been honoured by the nation by the world, by people of all classes of all creeds of all colours. I am grateful for that," he said. "But I am a father. I respect all those feelings but the only priority now is the life of my daughter and her total rehabilitation. I don't need any awards... I need my daughter." Malala is currently receiving treatment at a hospital in Birmingham, UK. She can now stand with the aid of nurses but is unable to communicate because of a tracheotomy tube inserted in her airway.
