Libya Set To Free HIV Medics Website
SIX foreign medics held since 1999 and sentenced to die by firing squad in Libya for deliberately infecting children with the HIV virus were set for freedom last night as a choreographed international deal went through. A lawyer acting for the families of the 460 children stated they had agreed to drop their demand that the five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor be executed after receiving a $460 million (£225 million) settlement. "We have notified in writing that the families have relinquished their demand for the execution" of the six medics, said Idriss Lagha, the head of the Libyan-based Association for the Families of HIV-Infected Children. The move paves the way for Libya's Supreme Judiciary Council to rule on the case. It is almost certain to grant the medics a pardon. The medics - who arrived in Libya with the promise of good wages - were sentenced to death in December after being convicted of intentionally starting an HIV epidemic at a children's hospital in Benghazi. In jail since 1999, the medics say they are innocent and that they were tortured to confess. Foreign HIV experts - including the French scientist who first identified HIV - say the infections started before the workers arrived at the hospital and were more likely to be the result of poor hygiene. The victims' families have said the case was part of a Western attempt to undermine Muslims and Libya. Fifty-six of the children have died, which has provoked widespread anger in Libya over their suffering. Libya's Supreme Court upheld the death sentences last week, placing the medics' fate in the hands of the High Judicial Council, which has the power to commute sentences or issue pardons. The council has held off on ruling on the medics' fate pending the families' acceptance of the deal with the European Union, which has campaigned on behalf of new member Bulgaria to have the nurses freed and sent home. Mr Lagha said many sources had contributed to the settlement. "The money came from the Benghazi International Fund, which is financed by the European Union, United States, Bulgaria and Libya," Mr Lagha said. When asked if the families had pardoned the medics, he said: "The families stated ... that the council is authorised to take the decision it sees appropriate, whether to free the medics or commute their sentences or make another ruling." Bulgaria and its allies in the EU and the United States say Libya is using the medics as scapegoats to deflect criticism from a dilapidated healthcare sector. They have also suggested that not freeing the nurses would carry a diplomatic cost for Libya's leader, Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, who is trying to emerge from isolation after scrapping a prohibited weapons programme in 2003. AID FUND LINKED TO PRISONERS' FATE SAIF al-Islam Gaddafi, left, son of the Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, heads the Gaddafi International Foundation for Charity Associations, which has steered negotiations to resolve the deadlock over the medics' fate. Bulgaria and other eastern European countries have denied they would cancel Libyan debts to secure the medics' release, but Bulgaria's foreign minister said yesterday his country was considering participating in a humanitarian aid fund for Libya. "Since other European countries are involved in the fund, it would be strange if Bulgaria was not interested," Ivailo Kalfin said. Libya's government is under intense pressure to free the six. The case has become a sticking point in the regime's attempts to rebuild ties with the United States and Europe. Credit: Khaled El-Deeb and Salah Sarrar in Tripoli
Source: scotsman.com
