now on bbc news, panorama. his story was broadcast around the world. the little boy almost fatally burned by saddam hussein's forces. like a beam of light flash, blinded by it. he's now a complete orphan, he's lost everything. his mother, his home, his family. there is nothing more important than feeling you belong to someone and are loved by someone. alone but watched by millions, he was brought to the uk for life—saving surgery. now, 30 years on, mysterious messages from iraq that could change everything.

part of me wants to believe it. is that you? i think it does look like me. he has spent three decades thinking he has nobody and then there is. i've waited for this moment all my life. # happy birthday to you...# a party in a village pub. but the boy on the piano never knew his own birthday. i've been quite confused about my age, really. at school, birthdays... just one of many mysteries about amar‘s life before he came here. as a child, you don't understand what's happened to you.

what happened to you, why are you in a different place? over the years, what has been more difficult? has it been the physical pain or the emotional pain? the emotional pain, definitely. psychological problems are more damaging than physical appearance, like scars or a broken arm or a broken leg, but i'm grateful for my life here. i first met amar a year ago, when i heard there had been some intriguing developments in his life, but neither of us had any idea how his past was about to affect his future. he told me his early life was happy. the eldest of six children. in march 1991, the first iraq war had just ended but dictator saddam hussein turned his weapons on his own people, including shia muslims in the south. amar was one of

the innocent victims. it started as a lovely day, it was sunny and we were playing with friends. everything changed. amar took shelter in a grain warehouse near his home in the city of basra. i heard the helicopterfirst, and then sort of heard three, four, five boom noises. my initial reaction, something's fallen, the building has fallen. that's what saved my life. he was later told the warehouse was hit with a napalm chemical bomb and he was the sole survivor. just like a beam of light flashed, blinded by it. ijust found this horrible sensation through my hands and face and immediately i knew something was wrong. there was a stream just like this, i sort ofjumped in.

like thousands of people injured in similar attacks, amar was taken over the border to iran for treatment. found in the back of a truck of some sort, i was in such pain. next minute, i woke up in this big camp. he had just been scooped up among them. he didn't know where his family was or anything. politician emma nicholson was visiting the region at the time to raise awareness of the atrocities inflicted by the iraqi regime. she had supported the gulf war but was worried about what saddam was doing now western troops had withdrawn. i was asked if i would like to look at the home for the wounded soldiers. we went in and there was this terrible sight of this child absolutely distraught, burnt from head to foot and obviously in desperate agony. i couldn't eat or swallow, drink, because of my neck.

it was very difficult to talk because of the scarring. every movement, i was like in pain. it was agonising. you didn't think you'd survive? to be honest, i didn't think i'd make it. the hospital couldn't treat his burns fully, so emma nicholson raise money to take him to london. she'd been told amar‘s family had all been killed in the napalm attack. the bombing wiped out his parents and sisters, that left him alone in the world. he is now a complete orphan. he's lost everything — his life, his home, his whole family. once he left the middle east, amar‘s story went global, as emma campaigned against saddam's regime. she took him straight off the plane to the united nations. although at that point, he couldn't understand a word of english. let this commission adopts

the genocide convention and save the iraqi people. she also set up a charity, the amar foundation, to help other victims in iraq. in london, more press were waiting. amar‘s story had captured the public imagination. this is my friend, darling. chief plastic surgeon at guy's hospital. lovely, we are here at last. having tv crew, flashes, photographers, i thought that's what i need to do to get this help. why do you want to be a doctor? translation: to look after the injured patients. amar‘s treatment began straightaway, the first of nearly 30 operations. i had no idea that he

would stay in england. i had anticipated he would go back again, but as soon as the paediatrician saw him, he said "if you move him again, he willdie." as well as surgery, amar had therapy, to deal with the post traumatic stress that gave him nightmares. after he left hospital, emma offered amara home. my husband michael loved him dearly. we thought that the best thing to do was to take him to winkleigh in devon, which was the heart of my constituency. amar chose not to be adopted, but he settled happily with emma and michael. but when you've been told your family perished, died, you just get on with life. over the years, emma heard rumours that some of his relatives might have survived, so she kept searching. i know that family is the most

important thing in my life. that's where you are, that's your identity. while amar embraced life in the uk, emma also wanted him to keep his links to the middle east. so she enlisted the help of british iraqis, people like hassan. we all felt that he has been cut off from his family and it was very important for us to just show him some support and to make him feel that we are here for him. we thought it would be very difficult to just take him to a village in devon, with no foreigners at all. but, to be honest, i think the whole village adopted amar. i saw a lost little boy. he put out this sort of happy, almost carefree child, but there was a sadness in his eyes.

amar went to the local school with lynn's kids. the horrors that he'd seen nobody, especially a small child, should have to have lived that. i just got all motherly. as the ‘90s rolled on, amar became a key part of the village scene. at that time, he had so many friends. almost everyone was amar‘s friend. but as time went by, he struggled. when i was a bit younger, 18, 19, 20, 21, i had all these things to keep me occupied.

but as the years went past, i started to become more and more enclosed, as i was getting older. eight years after he came to devon, amar suffered another loss. michael was incredibly kind and loving. in that sense, he stood in as the father and grandfather of amar and when he died, amarjust freaked out. when emma moved away, amar started to drift. he sort of became, i don't know, almost nomadic. he'd go off and no one would know where he was. it sounds like a kind of lost his way a bit? yes, i think he did. he was always trying to find jobs but people don't give him jobs. he used to drive his car and stay there for a month, living in the car.

so, he lived a very difficult life. it was hassan who first told us to go and see amar about an extraordinary message he'd received. a stranger in iraq had sent a tv clip showing a woman interrupting a news broadcast and claiming she was the mother of that little orphan, amar. i didn't believe it, to be honest. i thought it was just a big scam, really. i'd like to think it's true. there's also a photograph. the woman says it shows amar before the napalm attack. is that you? i think it does look like me, yeah. the eyes, especially, it does. but i mean, like i say, it's 50—50. without any dna, to link me to my mother, i refuse to believe all this.

it's no wonder he is sceptical. over the course of amar being here, there were many claims of people that amar was their son. he just discarded he said, "no, they are not my family." some of the details don't make sense to amar. the woman in the video has a husband with her, but amar‘s father died before the napalm attack. amar wants to find her and check out her story. but tracking people down in iraq isn't easy. no connection. we agreed to investigate on his behalf. after weeks of research, our bbc team eventually traces her. in a poor neighbourhood, 300 miles from where he grew up in basra,

we finally find zahra. salaam—alaikum. amar, amar. this is amar? she tells me this is her most treasured possession. and asks for news of the boy she says she lost 30 years ago, following a bomb attack. she describes how she searched for him at the time.

the man from the video is also here. she tells us he is her second husband. she says two of her other children have died, but she never gave up hope that one day, she would find her eldest son. amar. she shows us documents, certificates, desperate to persuade us. you are the mother? 0k, 0k, iunderstand. amar. zahra says they recently came across a newspaper photograph they thought could be amar, so when they met a broadcaster in the street, they asked to make an appeal, but she doesn't understand how her son could have ended up in britain. her name is emma nicholson. she believed that all the family

were dead, she was told all the family was dead, so she took amar because she was trying to help amar. there is only one way to establish the truth — dna. the search for his mother has prompted amar to reflect on other aspects of his childhood. well, i did look at her as a mother. idid, yes. i would like to reconnect with emma because she has saved my life.

they lost touch after emma moved to london and amar chose to stay in devon. hello! it's been a few years! how are you? very well, darling, how are you? what is this? it's just to say thank you, some flowers. i couldn't believe it, emma. i'm not surprised! i deleted it, month after month, i said, this could be... anybody. this is the woman who's claiming... with so many people separated and lost over decades in iraq, emma says amar is right to be cautious. it is terribly important that people don't have their hopes aroused and then get grievously disappointed. which is why i think dna testing nowadays is so clever. because maybe you can have a couple who terribly want to find their child and they're

willing to believe that this person is that child. amar wants to know if emma and her charity in iraq could have done more over the years to help him find any family. we did manage to track back an aunt, but she was so frightened, she asked us not to come back and see her. and i don't blame her, saddam was a terrible and wicked man. back in the village, amar is expecting the dna results. not too bad. what have you been up to? it's an exciting time really for me. it's been good, ups and downs. but most of it has been good, yes. i am excited for him. it would be nice if he has got some family.

ijust don't want him... that it's all a con. i think that would be very upsetting for him. so, the results have come in. 0k. that is for you. i've been waiting for this for a long time. it's 99%, it says. what? 99%. what does it say? proving that my biological mother, she is my biological mother. 99%, yeah. might even celebrate tonight and have a few drinks!

you have got a mum. i have got a mum, yes. so, in the chaos of war, it seems a terrible mistake was made. how much have you missed not having a family? i missed it every day for the last 30 years. it does make me feel good that i belong to someone. amar is now planning to visit his mum, and he's hoping he can still remember some arabic. it may take time for me to communicate with them and to build the language, but i'm sure once i practise it, i will be able to help them out and they will be able to help me out getting back, back to who i was. 30 years after he left as an orphan,

he is heading back to meet his mother. these boys are the same age you were when you left iraq? yes, i think so. how old are you? 11, about 11, yes. ten, nine, pretty much, yes. i was the same height exactly. the same as them when i got injured. i noticed that your arabic is good. i mean, it seems to be coming back. it is, it is good. speaking to those children, i didn't even have to think about it.

it is good to see you so happy and so relaxed. yes, i am because this is the people i grew up with. you are really good, amar! the ball is a bit flat. people just accept you for who you are, whether you have scars or whatever, you are still a human being and you still have feelings. high—five! 0k. i feel great. ifeel excellent, i am ready to meet my mother tomorrow. i can't wait, looking forward to it really. big day. it is a big day and i don't know if i'm going to sleep tonight. zahra is on her way with amar‘s stepfather and brother, tahrir. how is it feeling inside?

yes, i am getting butterflies inside, but extremely happy. the purpose of this journey from the uk to come to baghdad is completely for her, nothing else. just completely for the woman, my mother, should i say now? i have to start getting used to saying my mother, it is hard to believe, but my mother. amar. amauri.

they are soon as relaxed together as any other family. she doesn't believe her son is doing all these things. i'm not surprised, she's really proud! and for that little boy who never knew his own birthday, finally, a date, and he's three years older

than he thought. it's nearly your birthday. i think so, yes. next week, you're going to be a0. well, i have a reason to celebrate now! and there are more surprises. ink marks on amar‘s arm turn out to be a family tattoo to identify them if they're ever lost, and now amar has been found. over the next few days, they spend as much time together as possible. i have been blessed, with sweets. she is very happy, shejust wants to show me really everything and she says, she can't believe this, that amar is my son.

she is celebrating, and that is the way we celebrate in our culture. i was very scared to come here first time. there is nothing to be worried about. you are now speaking half arabic, half english. yes, it's confusing! but it is amazing. it is amazing. overwhelming. this has been the best moment of my life really. it's like a dream come true. ifeel like i'm reborn again. amar is almost ready to return to the uk. amar belongs here, but he now also has found his original belonging.

so, he should have two feet on the ground now. he knows what he is and, for 30 years, he hasn't known that. that lost look was always in his eyes and it isn't there. what he has suffered, what he has gone through to find his family at the end is incredible. it is a very, very happy story. he is one of the bravest boys i have ever met in my life. i have always been proud of him. before he leaves iraq, there is time for one final reunion. amar is on his way to the world's biggest cemetery. more than 5 million people are buried here, including his father. decades of hidden emotion

are finally unlocked. it was my duty to visit my dad's grave. it has been such a long time. i'm glad i came here. i have done what i need to do, i think. pretty satisfying.

we have seen some fairly settled and warm weather through much of the week. do skies of the order of the day. this is thursday. the blue skies will be replaced by slightly greyer colours over the next few days. cloudy conditions on friday. a few showers around. some rain initially across central and

southern parts of england and wales drifting eastwards. sunshine for north—west england, northern ireland and scotland. cloudier with a few showers across eastern parts of england and not quite as warm as it has been over recent days. through friday night, more persistent rain for parts of northern england and scotland. dry out further south and west. we start the weekend with rain, patch initially across scotla nd rain, patch initially across scotland and northern england. brightness in the south. but showers possible anyway. —— anywhere.

welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. i'm mike embley. our top stories: president trump says he wants a radical overhaul of the immigration system to favour skilled workers who speak english. it establishes a new legal immigration system that protects american wages, promotes american values, and attracts the best and brightest from all around the world. us—china relations reach a new low as washington blocks the tech giant huawei from american markets. the sanctions come into effect immediately. history in asia. taiwan is to become the first country in the region to formally