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Iraqi conjoined twins separated

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (CNN) -- Nearly 30 doctors working in shifts toiled for 18 hours Saturday and Sunday to surgically separate twin Iraqi girls who have been joined at the chest and abdomen during their 11 months of life.

The operation ended early Sunday for Fatma and Zahra Haidar, who are from Sadr City, a Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad that has been beset with sectarian violence. The Saudi government is paying all the medical bills.

"They are stable and they are responding very well to the surgery," said the chief surgeon, Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah. "We have to watch them day by day, but we are optimistic." (Watch doctors perform delicate surgery to separate the little girls )

The most critical immediate concern is the risk of infection, he said.

The children were flown to the National Guard King Abdul-Aziz Medical City health complex for the operation after Saudi King Abdullah heard a televised message from their parents asking for help.

Al Rabeeah said it had taken nine months for the malnourished children to gain enough weight to withstand the operation, which has at least 10 phases.

"Their chances for recovery are good," although infection is a concern in the early stages after the surgery, Al Rabeeah said. Each girl will have to be fitted for an artificial leg.

The doctors first detached the girls at the chest, abdomen and pelvis, then proceeded to separate shared organs -- the liver, small and large bowel, urethra and bladder and genitals, Al Rabeeah told CNN.

"Now we are reconstructing their organs," the surgeon said about 10 p.m. Saturday night (2 p.m. ET).

Asked about the risks of such surgery, Al Rabeeah said, "Certainly there is a significant risk. We said the risk is between 30 to 40 percent. However, from what we have seen, they are stable."

"Each of them will require an artificial leg. ... And after that, their expectation is going to be good. They will have a handicap, but they will overcome that handicap with careful rehabilitation and a physiotherapy program," the surgeon said. (Watch the twins playing before surgery )

Because most Saudis are Sunni Muslims, while the girls are Shiites, Al Rabeeah was asked about the political implications of the operation.

"I think that the message is clear that we are all human beings and we have to help each other, and we are strong believers that there are no boundaries to health," he said.

"We hope that this operation will give a message to our comrades in Iraq to stop the violence and also end the difficulties that the people of Iraq are encountering."

After surgery, the girls will spend a week in pediatric intensive care, and remain in the hospital another few months.

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