Libya: Medics Sentenced To Death

[American Patriot]

Time to yank back the "diplomatic relations"

[Aplomb]

http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n102729

Bulgaria to Initiate Proceedings against Medics’ Torturers by Month’s End

5 January 2007 | 12:50 | FOCUS News Agency

Sofia. “We will initiate proceedings against the torturers of the Bulgarian nurses in Libya by the month’s end”, Sofia City Prosecutor Nikolay Kokinov told FOCUS News Agency. He explained that the National Investigation Service would carry out the probe. “We have enough evidence and legal motives to initiate proceedings against the Bulgarian nurses’ torturers in Libya”, Kokinov stressed. He added that a check was underway and evidence was being collected. “If a verdict is passed, we have the right to demand that those persons should serve their term of imprisonment in Bulgaria”, the Sofia City Prosecutor said. He also stated that Bulgaria would make use of all the possible legal ways to question the Bulgarian medics and their torturers.

[Aplomb]

http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n102766

Daily Record, Scotland: Free Bomber to Save the Nurses

6 January 2007 | 09:16 | FOCUS News Agency

Edinburgh/Tripoli. Five Bulgarian nurses sentensed to death will only be spared if the Lockerbie bomber is freed, the Scottish daily Daily Record reports in its online edition. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has been urged to spare the women, and a Palestinian doctor, who were found guilty of deliberately infecting children with HIV. But he yesterday pledged their lives would only be saved if Lockerbie bomber Abel Baset Al-Megrahi was released from prison in Scotland. Gaddafi said: "Abdel Baset Al-Megrahi is innocent. We say, 'Let the Scottish court set him free.' You say, 'No, we won't set him free.' "He won't be free? Then the medics won't be free.", he said

[Aplomb]

Just an informative side note:

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=74953

Qaddafi to Build Statue of Saddam

Politics: 5 January 2007, Friday.

Libya has said it will build a statue of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

It would show him standing on the gallows with a Libyan resistance leader who fought Italian occupation, executed in 1931, Libya's Jana news agency said.

The government of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi declared three days of mourning following Saddam Hussein's execution on Saturday.

Under the decision, all celebrations of the Islamic Eid al-Adha feast were cancelled.

On the eve of the hanging, Libyan leader Col Muammar Qaddafi made an indirect appeal for Saddam's life, telling Al-Jazeera television that Saddam's trial was illegal and that he should be retried by an international court.

Flags on Libyan government buildings flew at half-mast following his death.

[American Patriot]

Edinburgh/Tripoli. Five Bulgarian nurses sentensed to death will only be spared if the Lockerbie bomber is freed, the Scottish daily Daily Record reports in its online edition.

Oh, so they really DIDN'T DO anything, now they are going to be spared IF they release a known, convicted terrorist? What kind of BS is that? They are apparently NOW holding these nurses and doc as HOSTAGES.

I think the Bulgarian government ought to be taking some kind of pre-emptory strike on the prison facilities and take those people out of there.

[Aplomb]

http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/1833

EU Cowardice: Commission Will Not Intervene on Behalf of Bulgarian Nurses

From the desk of Fjordman on Fri, 2007-01-12 14:14
Here is another example of how the Eurabian networks and the EU are holding Europe hostage. On January 1st, Bulgaria became a full member of the European Union. This means that the Bulgarian nurses who have been sentenced to death in a ridiculous trial in Libya are now EU citizens.

The nurses were accused of infecting Libyan children with HIV at a hospital in Benghazi in the 1990s. Some expert studies, however, suggest the infection was present in the hospital before their arrival and its real cause was poor hygiene.


According to the EU Commission, which is the EU’s government and thus the government for nearly half a billion people, protecting the lives of their own citizens is less important than continuing the Euro-Arab Dialogue and strengthening Euro-Mediterranean relations.


Ahead of their first parliamentary session as ‘proper’ MEPs, Bulgarian liberal deputies have come up with a resolution calling for a special European Parliament rapporteur for the case of the six medics sentenced to death in Libya and also for a revision of EU policy towards Tripoli should there be further negative developments. […]

Bulgarian liberal MEP Filiz Hyusmenova – one of the resolution’s authors – argues that the parliament should be closely involved in following the case and even nominate a special rapporteur on the matter, stressing “After all, now at stake are the lives and well being of five EU citizens.” “We would like the European Commission and the Council of Ministers to consider, in case of further negative developments, a revision of the EU’s policy of engagement with Libya,” she added. […]


But EU justice commissioner Franco Frattini said in December that dialogue with Tripoli should continue. “Trying to force the [Benghazi] issue would have the sole effect of destroying rather than strengthening Euro-Mediterranean relations.”

[Aplomb]

Originally posted by Rick Donaldson:
Oh, so they really DIDN'T DO anything, now they are going to be spared IF they release a known, convicted terrorist? What kind of BS is that? They are apparently NOW holding these nurses and doc as HOSTAGES.

I think the Bulgarian government ought to be taking some kind of pre-emptory strike on the prison facilities and take those people out of there.

It has become apparent to me that they have been hostages from the beginning. Look at this article from 2004:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/09/in...a65980&ei=5070
Libya Said to Lift Death Penalty of 6 Convicted in H.I.V. Case

By CRAIG S. SMITH

Published: December 9, 2004

RIPOLI, Libya, Dec. 8 - Libya will not execute five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who were sentenced to death earlier this year for infecting more than 400 children with H.I.V. in 1998, according to a son of the Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.


"No one is going to execute anyone," Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi said Wednesday.


This month or next, he said, the country will pass new laws that will limit capital punishment to a small number of crimes. "Capital punishment is going to be finished," he said.


Mr. Qaddafi, 32, who heads a charitable organization helping to negotiate a resolution to the case, said Libya would like to extradite the nurses to Bulgaria but suggested it might link that to the extradition of a Libyan man serving a life sentence in Scotland for the 1988 downing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. He did not say what might be done with the Palestinian doctor.


Libyan officials said this month that they were willing to "re-examine" the death sentences of the nurses and doctor but that such a move would depend on Bulgaria's paying compensation to the families of the children infected, more than 40 of whom have died. Bulgaria has refused, saying that would acknowledge the medical workers' guilt.


The medical workers were arrested in 1999 and accused of knowingly injecting H.I.V.-tainted blood into more than 400 children at a hospital in the city of Benghazi. International AIDS experts testified that the infections were most likely spread by using syringes more than once and that the infections began before the medical workers arrived at the hospital.



Nonetheless, a Libyan court found the six guilty and sentenced them to death by firing squad in May.


Mr. Qaddafi holds no official position in Libya, but he has acted as a mediator in many international disputes between his country and the West and is believed to speak with the backing of his father.


"I think we have to extradite them at a certain stage because we have an extradition treaty with Bulgaria," Mr. Qaddafi said. "But first we have to satisfy the families, compensation and a medical solution long-term for their children."

"At the same time," he said, "we have to address the issue of the Libyan prisoner in Glasgow. We can't expect to extradite someone from here and not expect the same for our citizen."


Western diplomats here say Libya is eager to resolve the case but is reluctant to release the medical workers without a solution that would maintain the integrity of the country's judicial system and satisfy domestic political expectations.


"We are talking about more than 400 families and that's not a small number in Libyan society," Mr. Qaddafi said. "We have to show them that we are getting something and that it's a good thing."

[Aplomb]

Here's a snippet from June of 2006:

http://ww2.aegis.org/news/ap/2006/AP060630.html

The defense had argued that the seven years the accused have spent in detention amounted to a punishment that would not be accepted in other countries. But the prosecution replied that if let go, the defendants might be harmed by the victims' relatives, and the judge ruled against their release.


Dozens of relatives of the 426 infected children - at least 50 of whom have died - demonstrated outside the trial on Tuesday, pelting the courthouse with stones. Police intervened to restore calm.


In Sofia, Bulgarian Foreign Ministry spokesman Dimitar Tsantchev welcomed the move to expedite the proceedings, saying it would "lead to a speedy trial without further protraction."


One of the defense lawyers, Thahiba Mohammed Moussa, told the court she would no longer defend the Palestinian doctor, Ashraf al-Hazouz, and that she had joined the team of lawyers representing the victims' relatives.


Moussa did not explain her decision, but she told The Associated Press later that it was based on "personal convictions." (like my life is at stake?)



The trial has evolved into a diplomatic showdown, with the U.S. and European Union indicating that future relations with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi depended on the verdict.


A retrial was ordered in December after U.S., European and Libyan negotiators agreed to set up a fund to help the infected children's families.

[Aplomb]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa....ap/index.html

Outraged Bulgaria wants fast appeal of HIV verdicts

POSTED: 1:18 p.m. EST, December 29, 2006


SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) -- Bulgaria insisted Friday on a speedy appeal for five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death in an AIDS case in Libya, a case that has triggered outrage in the country.


Libya, meanwhile, denounced Western criticism of the case, saying it is politically motivated and biased against Muslim values.


Diplomatic relations between the countries have been strained since 1999 when the medical workers were jailed on charges that they intentionally spread HIV to more than 400 children at a hospital in Benghazi during what Libya claims was a botched experiment to find a cure for AIDS.
Fifty children have died, and the rest have been treated in Europe.
Evidence showed children already had HIV

The tensions intensified earlier this month when the nurses and doctor were sentenced to death despite scientific evidence the children had the virus before the medical workers arrived in Libya.


Bulgarian civil groups and media outlets have called for economic sanctions or the breaking of diplomatic relations with Tripoli. The EU and U.S. have also criticized the verdict.


The six plan to appeal their convictions and sentences before Libya's Supreme Court.


Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin said Friday he had summoned the acting head of the Libyan Embassy in Sofia to defend Bulgarian reactions to the verdict and demand a speedy appeal process.


"We will follow and exhaust all means of defense that Libya's judiciary offers," he told reporters. "This, however, should happen as quickly as possible."


"We had every reason to believe that the Libyan court would take into account the evidence [of the nurses' claims of innocence] but that did not happen," he added. "The reaction in Bulgaria was absolutely reasonable and [Libya] could hardly expect any other after such a verdict."
Libya calls objections politically motivated

Late Thursday, Libya's Foreign Ministry issued a statement attacking criticism of the case.


"The positions expressed by the Bulgarian government, the European Union and others are political stances which are biased toward certain values which are not far away from inciting wars, conflicts, hostilities between civilizations and religions," the statement said.


Kalfin protested what he called accusations of ethnic and religious intolerance.


"Bulgaria has achieved a good level of ethnic and religious tolerance and the last accusation Libya can throw against Bulgaria is of inciting religious enmities," Kalfin added.


He said Bulgaria would continue to seek a diplomatic resolution to the case.



Talks between Libyan, Bulgarian, European and U.S. diplomats have yet to yield a result.


Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi had tried to reach a deal by which Bulgaria would compensate the victims, a proposal Sofia has rejected, saying it would imply the nurses' guilt.


The defendants have claimed they were tortured in detention, and two of the nurses -- who are all women -- said they were raped. A Libyan court acquitted several Libyan prison officials of the charge.


Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[Aplomb]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L11730557.htm

INTERVIEW-Sofia says nurses face another year in Libya jail
11 Jan 2007 14:44:38 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Michael Winfrey and Justyna Pawlak SOFIA, Jan 11 (Reuters) -

Bulgaria expects five of its nurses and a Palestinian doctor, sentenced to death in Libya for infecting children with HIV, to remain in jail for at least another year during an appeals process.

But Kalfin repeated Bulgaria's stance that it will not pay compensation, as doing so would be a false admission of guilt, and there was no way Libya could expect more money.

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin said he hoped the process would finish this year and, if not successful, Sofia would try to increase international pressure to free them.

A Libyan court sentenced the medics to death last month -- the second time in the eight year case -- for intentionally starting an HIV epidemic, despite what Sofia and its allies say is overwhelming scientific evidence showing they are innocent.

"We are doing everything possible to speed it up," Kalfin told Reuters in an interview on Thursday. "If there is anything that works in Libya, it is international pressure."

Bulgaria, a European Union member since Jan. 1, and its allies in Brussels and Washington have been pressing Tripoli to release the medics. "If we can make the Libyans do the best they can, we can exhaust this legal procedure this year," Kalfin said.

Asked if he expected the nurses to spend at least another year in Libya, he said: "Probably, yes". The case has hurt Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's efforts to renew ties with the West after decades of diplomatic isolation, while anger in the oil-rich, north African country is high, as some 50 of the more than 430 infected children have died.

But the United States, EU countries, and other of Bulgaria's allies say the nurses are being used as scapegoats to deflect blame from a more likely culprit -- Libya's medical system.

They point to evidence that the nurses were tortured to confess and studies by international AIDS experts showing the outbreak probably started at the Benghazi children's hospital before they began working there in 1998.

FATE UNCLEAR Analysts say that despite Libya's insistence that its court is independent, the medics' fate ultimately lies in Gaddafi's hands and is subject to the wider geo-political drama of his rapprochement efforts.

Libya has said the case might be resolved by an executive body -- a so-called high judicial council -- in which Gaddafi's government could overrule the court's decision.

It has also demanded 10 million euros ($12.95 million) per child in compensation from Bulgaria which, under Islamic law, would allow the victims' families to pardon the nurses.

Bulgaria and its allies have created an international fund to give treatment, medicine and other aid to the children and their families, but hopes the fund could be a potential avenue towards resolving the case have hit a snag.

In a speech last month, Gaddafi said the 3 million euros ($3.9 million) in the fund was not enough.

"From the very outset, we said what the fund could do and how far it would go. We are not talking about billions, or compensation, or blood money, it was never the case," he said. "If they are not happy with that, it will be their problem."

[Aplomb]

...and finally here come the conditions:
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=75328

Qaddafi Wants Money and Lockerbie Attacker for Nurses' Release

Politics: 13 January 2007, Saturday.

Muammar Qaddafi has officially stated his conditions for the release of the five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death in Libya, a website of the Libyan opposition claims.

Cited by the Bulgarian national radio, the site claims that Qaddafi has sent an official note to the EU country members and the US, requesting compensations for the families of the HIV-infected children and the release of the terrorist from Lockerbie.

In his note Qaddafi admitted that there were problems in his country's health system. He vowed that if Bulgaria pardons Libya's debt, then Libya would offer the Balkan country options to take part in programs for fixing Libya's health system.

Qaddafi also stated that a Bulgarian non-governmental organization should be the one to negotiate the financial compensations with the medics' relatives.

The UK should help with the release of the Lockerbie bomber, the note also says. He could be released because he has already served his sentence, or he could receive amnesty, or be extradited to Libya, Qaddafi suggests.

Yes, this sounds like a plan. Give us money, give us our terrorist back, and send fresh medical people over to fix our health system!

Somebody needs to go over there and show the Daffy and Libya what can be done for them. I would think that Bulgaria now has official confirmation that this drawn out scenario is an act of war.

[Aplomb]

http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/no-...19905/catid_68

NO CONNECTION BETWEEN TRIAL OF BULGARIA'S NURSES AND LOCKERBIE BOMBING- BEYRLE
13:29 Tue 16 Jan 2007

A connection between the trial of the five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death for HIV infection in Libya and the Lockerbie bombing cannot be established, US ambassador to Bulgaria John Beyrle said.

Beyrle met on January 16 Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin to discuss the trial, Bulgarian National Radio reported. This week Libyan media reported that the nurses might be freed, if the Libyan imprisoned for the Lockerbie bombing returned home.


As a good partner of Bulgaria, the US was going to do everything possible to guarantee the return of the nurses home, said Beyrle.


Kalfin said that the suggested exchange was unacceptable. Libya's justice system had to evaluate all evidence of the nurses' innocence and tying the outcome of the trial to the Lockerbie case could not be considered an option, said Kalfin.


Another worrying development was the inability of Deputy Justice Minister Margarit Ganev to meet the nurses, Kalfin said. Ganev traveled to Libya but has been denied a prison visit permit.


Ganev was in Libya to discuss with the nurses their defence, Kalfin said.



The lawyers of the nurses have one final chance to appeal the death sentences before Libya's Supreme Court.

[Aplomb]

http://standartnews.com/en/article.p...0&article=2728

From Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Libya Halts Delivery of Medicines for HIV Infected Kids

Tripoli obstacles the delivery of donated medication at the total value of 250,000 levs


"Libya does not accept donated medicines at the cost of 250,000 levs. The medicines are intended for the treatment of HIV infected Libyan children but cannot be sent to Libya because Tripoli creates administrative obstacles," said yesterday Dr. Ivan Chomakov, Mayor of Bulgaria's second largest city of Plovdiv and member of the steering committee of Benghazi International Fund.


"Bulgarian pharmaceutical companies donated the medicines once the fund was established. Since then, though, the medication has remained stockpiled and cannot reach Libya," Dr. Chomakov explained.

He believes the therapeutic effectiveness of some medicines will have to be checked because the expiry date of some medicines may have expired due to the big postponement.

So far, about 500,000 levs (1euro=1.95 levs) have been donated to the fund for treating the infected children, according to Dr. Chomakov. "We hope the started campaign in support of the Bulgarian nurses will activate donations. A lot of children have started examinations and treatment in European clinics," Plovdiv Mayor said further.

Due to complicated relations no date has been fixed for new talks between the Fund and Libya.

The Fund's bank account:

DZI Bank, Plovdiv
Bank code 32071592
Account 1022158100

Kostadin Arshinkov

[Aplomb]

http://sofia.usembassy.gov/libyan_court.html

Press Statement by Ambassador John Beyrle

Press Release
December 20, 2006
I want to express my deep disappointment about yesterday’s verdict by the Libyan Court. I share the great concern of the Bulgarian people about the fate of the five nurses - Kristiyana Vulcheva, Nasya Nenova, Valentina Siropulo, Valya Chervenyashka, and Snezhana Dimitrova, and the ordeal that they have undergone for the last almost eight years. I believe that the scientific evidence, especially the most recent evidence presented by American and European scientists, shows they are innocent.


As Secretary Rice said yesterday in Washington, the United States is continuing to work in every way that we can to assure that the Bulgarian medics and Palestinian doctor are freed. It’s our understanding that yesterday’s decision is subject to further review, and we are urging that the process move forward as quickly as possible. We want to see the day come soon when the nurses return safely to their homes, friends and families.

[Aplomb]

http://www.libya-watanona.com/

Sunday, 14 January, 2007: Libya has released 60 Al Qaida-aligned insurgents in a gesture of reconciliation to the Islamic opposition. Islamic sources said Libya has released 60 members of the Islamic Fighting Group, listed by the State Department as linked to Al Qaida. The sources said most of the insurgents had been sentenced in connection to the Islamic war against the regime of Col. Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi in the 1990s. "Those released were hard-core insurgents as well as facilitators," an Islamic source said. "The release came in batches over the last few weeks." The sources said the insurgents had been imprisoned in a facility in Tripoli. [MENL]

---

Sunday, 14 January, 2007: Libya offered to free five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor on death row in exchange for a Libyan convicted in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing. The offer was reported by KUNA, the Kuwaiti News Agency. The nurses and the doctor are charged with deliberately infecting 450 Libyan children with HIV. Under the offer, which KUNA said was sent to members of the European Union as well as the United States, the five nurses and the doctor would be freed in exchange for the release of Libyan Abdelbast al-Megrahii, who is serving a life sentence for his part in the 1988 bombing of Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. [Daily India]

---

Sunday, 14 January, 2007: Libya has granted the five jailed Bulgarian nurses a fourth visit by their relatives, Darik News reported. The relatives went to Libya for a week and were first promised everyday visits, but the local authorities then only allowed three visits instead. Relatives will now be allowed a visit to the prison on Sunday. Bulgaria's deputy Justice Minister Margarit Ganev has also arrived in Libya but still doesn't know when he would be allowed to meet the five prisoners. Bulgaria's deputy Justice Minister Margarit Ganev has also arrived in Libya but still doesn't know when he would be allowed to meet the five prisoners. [SNA]

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Sunday, 14 January, 2007: Members of the defense team of the prisoner of war Saddam Hussein were honoured Thursday in the Libyan capital Tripoli at the initiative of Watassimu Foundation and The Graduate Studies Academy. The honour came in recognition of their efforts in Saddam Hussen's defense. The honoring was organized at the sidelines of the activities of the international seminar on the International Criminal Court, organized by the Academy with the participation of several scholars and researchers specialized in criminal and international law. All members of the defense team were awarded certificates of appreciation. [LJBC]

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Sunday, 14 January, 2007: Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht has called for European sanctions against Libya in connection with the death sentence imposed on five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor. The EU has denounced the Libyan court's decision to execute the health workers after finding them guilty of infecting 400 children with HIV. "I am shocked by this decision, it is a great disappointment," said EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini. Chief EU spokesman Johannes Laitenberger said there was no immediate decision against Libya, but added he "did not rule anything out." "The EU simply cannot accept this verdict," he said. [Expatica]

[Aplomb]

http://www.flandersnews.be/cm/flande...s/070112_Libya

De Gucht: "Sanctions against Libya"

Fri 12/01/07 - The Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht (Flemish liberal) has called for European sanctions against Libya in connection with the death sentence imposed against five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor (photo).

(Belga)



He has also summoned the Libyan ambassador to his office to discuss the matter.

The nurses and the doctor have been sentenced to death after they were convicted of causing over 400 children to become infected with HIV.

HIV is the virus that may lead to the disease AIDS.

Scores of children died.

The death sentence imposed by the Libyan judicial system triggered an outcry from governments across Europe. The sentence was recently confirmed.

The Belgian Foreign Minister has now called the Libyan ambassador in Brussels to account.

Mr De Gucht does not believe there was sufficient ground for the trial and identifies political motives behind the case.

(Belga)
A Libyan court


"Scientifice evidence proves otherwise"

According to the Belgian Foreign Minister scientific research earlier showed that a lack of hygiene was the cause of the infection and that it was not the fault of those convicted.

Mr De Gucht has called for the speedy release of the Palestinian doctor and the six Bulgarian nurses.

He also wants the European Union to impose sanctions against the North African country.

Bulgaria became a member of the European Union on 1 January.

Meanwhile the Belgian Federation of Nurses has collected 20,000 signatures calling for the release of the six people convicted.

[Aplomb]

http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/med...19402/catid_69

MEDIA IN LIBYA LAUNCH UNPRECEDENTED CAMPAIGN AGAINST BULGARIAN NURSES
16:05 Mon 18 Dec 2006

Foreign diplomats said that unprecedented media campaign in Libya aimed to influence the trial of the five Bulgarian nurses accused of deliberate HIV infection.

The Bulgarians and a Palestinian medic are accused of the intentional HIV infection of 426 children in the Libyan town of Benghazi.


The court of Tripoli is expected to pronounce the final verdicts on December 19 2006. Its sitting will be held under 'unprecedented pressure from Libyan public,' reports said.


Libyan main daily newspapers already called for the confirmation of the previously issued death sentences of the Bulgarians, Darik said. Over the past week media were publishing broad articles dedicated to the infected children's tragedy and the crime of the six.


Jamahiriya newspaper said that the nurses' cruelty was similar to those of Nero, Genghis Khan and Adolf Hitler. The Bulgarians were even wilder and more bloodthirsty, the report said.


Other Libyan media call the nurses devils who committed the most disgusting crime. Everyone who refused to help Libya was pronounced betrayer, dirtied by the blood of Libyan children, the report said.

[Aplomb]

http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/lib...19590/catid_68

LIBYA COUNTERS INTERNATIONAL REACTIONS TO TRIAL OF BULGARIA'S NURSES
10:22 Fri 29 Dec 2006

To counter international pressure for a positive outcome in the trial of the five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death, Libya turned for help to its neighbouring countries and supporters.

Libya’s foreign ministry worked on a declaration elaborating the nurses’ trial.



The Bulgarians and a Palestinian doctor were sentenced to death on December 19 on charges of intentional mass HIV infection in the town of Benghazi.


The declaration was addressed to the secretary-general of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), to all Arab, Asian and Latin American countries that Libya has diplomatic relations with, to the UN and the European Commission, Focus news agency reported.


In the declaration, Libya presented the trial, as seen in the country. The foreign ministry underlined that the process was just and all evidence used to establish the guilt of the medics was authentic.


Libya also protests against the sharp international reactions and the calls for freeing the medics.

Shortly after receiving the document OIC responded that it believed in the fairness of the Libyan judiciary.

[Aplomb]

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=74950

FT: Europe Tries to Strike Deal with Libya over Bulgarians

A Libyan court condemned to death December 19 the five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor for knowingly infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV. Photo by Middle-East-Online

Politics: 5 January 2007, Friday.

Europe faces stiff obstacles in its attempt to strike a deal with Libya over the lives of five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death and the fate of hundreds of children with HIV, say diplomats and analysts, as cited by the Financial Times.

"In spite of hopes of a settlement, the European Union's negotiating position is weakened by Libya's pivotal role in efforts to restrict immigration from Africa to southern Europe," the authors comment.

The Libyan government has estimated that the country hosts between 1m and 1.2m illegal immigrants, many thousands of whom try to reach Europe, principally through Italy.

At a time of mounting concern about Europe's security of energy supply, the EU is also hoping to begin discussions on increasing co-operation with Libya over its oil and gas resources.

"The EU is not in a position to exert effective pressure," said Oliver Miles, a former British ambassador to Libya and now deputy chairman of the Libya British Business Council. "The idea that if you kick Libya hard enough it would do what you want it to do is wrong."

Libyan judges have now twice found the nurses, and a Palestinian doctor, guilty of infecting more than 400 children in the city of Benghazi with HIV and have twice sentenced them to death, most recently last month. More than 50 of the children have died.

[Aplomb]

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/...y-EU-Libya.php

Barroso, Merkel press Libya over Bulgarians accused of infecting children with AIDS


The Associated Press
Published: January 9, 2007



BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Libya to free five Bulgarian nurses accused of infecting Libyan children with HIV, and the head of the European Commission warned that the case could hurt Europe's relations with Tripoli.


Germany, which holds the rotating EU presidency, and the EU commission "will do everything to exert the necessary influence on Libya so that these nurses finally can be set free," Merkel said after talks with commission president Jose Manuel Barroso.


Barroso, who met U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington on Monday, said the U.S. government as well as many other countries were urging a solution to the standoff over the nurses, who have been sentenced to death.


"We hope that the Libyan authorities will understand how important this is also for their cooperation with Europe," Barroso said.


The nurses "have been in a situation which we consider completely unfair for such a long time," he said.

The five Bulgarians and a Palestinian doctor have been in jail since 1999 on charges that they intentionally spread the HIV virus to more than 400 children at a hospital in the city of Benghazi during a botched experiment to find a cure for AIDS. About 50 children have died.


In December, a court in Tripoli handed down death sentences for the defendants, despite scientific evidence the youngsters had the virus before the medical workers arrived in Libya.


The six plan to appeal their convictions and sentences before Libya's Supreme Court.