Gabrielle Giffords 'well enough to watch shuttle launch'

THE American congresswoman shot in the head at a shopping centre in Arizona will be allowed to fly to Florida this week to watch her astronaut husband rocket into space as commander of the space shuttle Endeavour.

Doctors in Houston, Texas, said yesterday that Gabrielle Giffords was "medically able" to travel and that they considered the trip to Cape Canaveral for the launch a part of her rehabilitation from the gunshot wound in January.

Being in Florida for the Endeavour's final flight – commanded by Ms Giffords' husband, Nasa astronaut Mark Kelly – has long been a goal for the congresswoman and her family.

Giffords was shot in the head while attending a community event with constituents in the car park of a shopping mall in Tucson on 8 January.

Besides the congresswoman, six people were killed and 13 were wounded.

Jared Lee Loughner, 22, has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the attack and is in custody.