RIYADH: Saudi medical authorities announced on Wednesday that a complicated surgical procedure to separate conjoined twins will be performed on Thursday, the Saudi Press agency reported. The operation, which follows the implementation of directives from King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, will be carried out under the supervision of Adviser at the Royal Court and General Supervisor of KSrelief Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah. A medical and surgical team is set to separate the Syrian conjoined twin brothers — Bassam and Ihsan — at King Abdullah Specialist Children’s Hospital in the King Abdulaziz Medical City at the Ministry of National Guard in Riyadh. Al-Rabeeah, who is also head of the medical and surgical team, said in a press statement that the operation was expected to take 9.5 hours and would be conducted in five stages, with the participation of 26 consultants, specialists, technical, nursing and support staff. He said that the Syrian twins, who arrived from Turkiye on May 22, are 32 months old and weigh 19 kg together. The medical team has conducted examinations showing that the twins are conjoined in the lower chest, abdomen, liver and intestines, he said. The examinations showed that Ihsan was considered the more dominant twin due to the absence of the urinary and reproductive systems (kidneys, ureters, bladder and male reproductive organs) in Bassam. Ihsan also suffers from major congenital heart defects that reduce his life expectancy, along with atrophy in his neurological development, which makes his chances of survival very slim. Al-Rabeeah said that to save Bassam’s life, the medical team decided to perform the  operation to separate the twins. He said that the operation is the 58th within the Saudi program for conjoined twins, which has supervised 130 cases from 23 countries since 1990. Al-Rabeeah thanked King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the support the conjoined twins separation program receives.