SOFIA, May 4 (AFP) - Families of a group of Libyan children allegedly infected with the AIDS virus by Bulgarian medics staged a protest Saturday during a visit by Bulgaria's foreign minister, local radio reported.
Solomon Passi is the first Bulgarian official to visit the sick children since a courtcase opened against five Bulgarian nurses and a doctor two years ago, charging them with infecting the children through contaminated blood supplies.
Passi's visit, to a hospital in the northern city of Benghazi comes ahead of an expected meeting between the Bulgarian foreign minister and Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi.
Demonstrators in the hospital carried banners proclaiming "Thank you for AIDS", "What crime did childhood commit to be destroyed?" and "Will I ever wear a wedding dress?"
But angry parents were prevented from reaching the foreign minister by bodyguards, according to the Bulgarian radio report.
Before his visit to the hospital, Passi visited a cemetery where 37 child victims of AIDS are buried.
The Five Bulgarian nurses and a doctor, as well as a Palestinian doctor, are accused of deliberately injecting 393 children with blood products contaminated with HIV, the virus which causes AIDS.
Twenty-three children have already died of the disease in the al-Fateh children's hospital in Benghazi, where the Bulgarians worked.
The trial for "premeditated murder in order to undermine the security of Libya" began two years ago and could result in a death sentence for those on trial.
In February, a court ruled that there was not enough evidence to convict the defendants and sent the case back to the prosecutors' office.
"The greatest success will be if the accusations tied to the death penalty would be lifted," Passi earlier said.
"This is a trip of goodwill, friendship and compassion for the suffering of the Libyan people," he added.
Passi is due to leave Tripoli for Sofia on Monday.
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