Libya lifts death sentences on nurses

LIBYA'S supreme court yesterday overturned death sentences imposed on five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor for allegedly infecting hundreds of children with the HIV virus.

The decision to order a retrial - six years after the medics were imprisoned - appeared to be an attempt to resolve the stand-off between Libya and the West over the prosecution and the verdict of death by firing squad.

It came after a deal was reached between Libyan and European negotiators to provide help for the families of the infected children.

Bulgaria welcomed the court's decision, with the foreign ministry calling it a "positive sign" and urging a speedy retrial for the six, who have been in prison since 1999. "The Libyan court's decision is an encouraging step toward a final recognition of the innocence of our compatriots," Georgi Pirinski , the speaker of the Bulgarian parliament said.

The Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, is believed to have been looking for a face-saving way out of the case, which has poisoned his attempts to rebuild ties with the West.

Europe and the United States accused Libya of making up the charges that the medics deliberately infected 426 children with the HIV virus at a hospital in the Libyan city of Benghazi. About 50 of the children have since died.

However AIDS experts have said the outbreak started before the nurses arrived and was probably caused by poor hygiene.

The supreme court in Tripoli backed the appeal by the medics, suggesting that it believed the defence's arguments that the six had been tortured to extract confessions.

The judge said prosecutors agreed with defence lawyers that there were "irregularities" in the arrest and the interrogation of the medical workers.

Othman al-Bezenti, a defence lawyer said: "The verdict reflects the evidence and facts that we have presented, that all the previous measures were null and void and that the confessions were made illegally."

The defendants did not attend yesterday's session.

Awad al-Mesmari, a lawyer for the families of the infected children, said he was "saddened" by the verdict.

"What did the children do so that they suffer now? We have buried 50 of them, may God bless them," he said.

The trial has stoked anger within Libya, with the families of the infected children demonstrating at court.