Father of teenager shot in the head by Taliban insists he will take daughter Malala back to Pakistan once she has recovered

• Ziauddin Yousafzai and his wife arrived in Birmingham today to see Malala
• Malala was flown to the city's Queen Elizabeth Hospital for expert care
• Father: 'The moment she recovers God willing I will be back in Pakistan'
• Father spoke of her 'miraculous discovery' for first time since shooting
• The Taliban have vowed to kill Malala if she returns home to Swat Valley

The father of Malala Yousafzai, the schoolgirl who was shot by the Taliban has vowed that his daughter will return to her home country of Pakistan once she has recovered.
Ziauddin Yousafzai and his wife arrived in Birmingham today to see their 15-year-old daughter for the first time since she was flown to the city's Queen Elizabeth Hospital earlier this month.
Malala, was shot in the head and neck at point-blank range as she returned home from school in the Swat Valley.

Return home: The father of Malala Yousafzai, the schoolgirl who shot by the Taliban has vowed that his daughter will return to her home country Pakistan when she's well enough

Reunited: Ziauddin Yousafzai and his wife arrived in Birmingham today to see their 15-year-old daugher for the first time since she was flown to the city's Queen Elizabeth Hospital earlier this month

She had been demanding education rights for women in Pakistan and the attack has provoked uproar around the world.

 

The Taliban have vowed to kill Malala, raising questions about whether it would be safe for her to return.
But today he father rebuked rumours that the family might seek asylum abroad.

Care: Pakistani shooting victim Malala Yousufzai, who is recovering in Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham

'The moment she recovers God willing I will be back in Pakistan,' he said in a TV interview with her two younger brothers by his side.
He spoke of her 'miraculous' recovery in the first time he has discussed the incident since the shooting on October 9, reported The Telegraph.
Al-Qaeda are furious that Malala Yousafzai - who was shot in the head in a botched Taliban assassination - is being hailed a heroine around the world, it was reported earlier this week.

On guard: Security patrol the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, where Malala Yousafzai is being treated

Recovering: Malala, who cannot speak at the moment, was in a medically induced coma on arrival in Britain

'At first I laughed because after all of our sacrifices, my personal (sacrifices), and this attack on my daughter, we cannot have had such a cheap purpose that we would go to some other country and live the rest of our lives there,' Malala's father said.
Mr Yousufzai, has been a huge influence for Malala - he ran a school in Swat Valley that kept its doors open to girls to the annoyance of the Taliban.

If she does return to her home country, she would be reunited with her mother and two younger brothers.
Sunni clerics in the country even issued a fatwa against the Taliban, decrying an attack on a girl as un-Islamic.
But Al-Qaeda member Ustad Ahmad Farooq compared the attack on Western military operations, saying in a letter: 'Nobody spoke up for thousands of such Malalas who became victims of military operations, and nobody protested for them on the roads,’ reported Fox News.
He added: ‘But these circles made so much noise when we targeted this girl who made fun of jihad, the veil and other Islamic values on behest of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
‘This attack created shockwaves in the ruling circles around the world. They issued a number of statements condemning the attack on Malala.
‘I may ask why? Why is Malala's blood more important than those killed by the army?’
Dr Dave Rosser, medical director at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, said Malala will need a significant period of rest and recuperation before she has reconstructive surgery.

Symbolic: Members of various non-government organizations light candles during special prayers for the recovery of Malala Yousufzai, who was shot by Taliban gunmen, in Lahore

Campaign: An auto-rickshaw carrying the image of schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai travels on a road in Lahore

Respectful: Students attend special prayers for the recovery of Malala Yousufzai, who was shot by the Taliban, at the Sacred Heart Cathedral School in Lahore

Malala, who cannot speak at the moment, was in a medically induced coma on arrival in Britain last Monday, but has since regained consciousness and has stood for the first time since the shooting.
The girl, who has won various peace prizes, was on her way back home on a school bus in the Swat Valley in north-west Pakistan when masked men boarded the vehicle and pointed guns at the girls.
A hooded Taliban militant shouted: 'Which one of you is Malala? Speak up, otherwise I will shoot you all.
She is propagating against the soldiers of Allah, the Taliban. She must be punished.'
Almost as soon as he shouted this, the militant recognised the youngster and shot her at point blank range. She was shot in the head and neck in the 'barbaric attack'.
She was struck just above the back of her left eye, with the bullet travelling down the side of her jaw and damaging the skull. It went through her neck and lodged in the tissue above her shoulder blade.