OTTAWA, Sept 5 (AFP) - Families of Canadian haemophiliacs have failed in their bid to sue the Canadian Red Cross for treating patients with HIV-infected blood.

The Supreme Court of Canada announced Thursday it was not prepared to hear demands for compensation from the widows of two victims of the tainted blood and one victim who is suffering from AIDS as a result of a tainted blood transfusion.

The top court gave no reason for its decision, seen here by lawyers as an end to any hopes of victims or their families of suing the Red Cross which has, since the tainted blood scandal, handed over responsibility for the nation's blood banks to an ad hoc government agency.

In February 1996, the three began their federal court case for damages resulting from tainted transfusions from blood supplied by the Red Cross in 1985.

The Ontario Supreme Court, in a ruling in 2000, found the Red Cross -- which acted as an agent for the federal government -- was negligent and awarded damages to the three plaintiffs totalling 1.5 million dollars (one million US).

But that decision was overturned on appeal.

The case was then referred to the Supreme Court for its final ruling.

Several other cases -- with claims totalling hundreds of millions of dollars -- were put on hold pending the Supreme Court ruling.

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