Medics free after Libya/EU deal
2007-07-24 09:58
Sofia - Six foreign medics convicted of infecting Libyan children with HIV arrived in Sofia on Tuesday after being freed by Libya under an accord with the European Union.
Their release after eight years in captivity ends what
Libya's critics called a human rights scandal and lifts a
barrier to attempts by the long-isolated north African state to
complete a process of normalising ties with the outside world.
A statement by the French presidency said the medics - who
said they were innocent and had been tortured to confess - were
being flown on a French jet to Sofia where they landed on Tuesday morning.
A Libyan close to the negotiations said the five Bulgarians
and a Palestinian who recently took Bulgarian citizenship were
freed under an agreement with the EU on medical aid and
political ties.
"There was agreement on equipping the hospital in Benghazi
and treatment for the children ... All the political matters
have been met," the Libyan contacted by telephone from Algiers
said.
The medics were accompanied by EU External Relations
Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner and France's First Lady
Cecilia Sarkozy, who had been in Tripoli to help their release.
The Libyan close to the negotiations said European countries
had agreed to provide medical assistance for the children and to
help upgrade a hospital in Benghazi, Libya's second city and the
town where the infections first appeared in the 1990s.
The EU had also agreed to improve its ties with Libya and
build what the Libyan called a partnership that would include
free trade. Bulgaria is a new EU member.
Pardon
The six are expected to be pardoned by Bulgarian President
Georgi Parvanov later, officials said.
Following hectic diplomatic talks and payment of hundreds of
millions of dollars to the families of 460 HIV victims, Libya
last week commuted the death sentences against the six to life
imprisonment.
That paved the way for the medics, who spent over eight
years in Libyan jail to return home under a 1984 prisoner
exchange agreement.
Tuesday's transfer of the medics became possible after
European Union and French officials achieved a breakthrough in
talks with Libya overnight, Bulgarian officials said.
Families of the nurses eagerly awaited them at Sofia
airport's government VIP arrival hall.
"It's unbelievable. They are coming home," said Tsvetanka
Siropoulu, sister-in-law of one of the nurses.