TRIPOLI, May 25 (AFP) - The European Union's external relations chief met Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi Wednesday to press for the release of five nurses from candidate member Bulgaria who are facing execution for allegedly infecting hundreds of children with the AIDS virus.
Benita Ferrero-Waldner said she saw a "slight flame of hope" for the Bulgarians as well as a Palestinian doctor also on death row after her talks in the Libyan capital.
"Today, I raised this case with Colonel Kadhafi, underlining Europe's strong desire to see the evidence that led to the medics' conviction re-examined and that they should be released as soon as possible," she said.
Ferrero-Waldner also visited the accused in their prison in Tripoli during the unannounced trip, the first of its kind by a high-level EU representative.
She acknowledged that the six accused said they were "psychologically tired."
"I do hope that the climate will be somewhat better ... although the case remains a very very difficult one," she said. "I do hope that there is a slight flame of hope."
She also met with Prime Minister Shukri Ghanem, a day after she visited some of the survivors in the eastern city of Benghazi, prompting protests from angry relatives.
The Libyan premier said he had told the EU envoy that his government had no power over the judiciary and reminded her that the High Court is to rule on May 31 whether to hear an appeal by the six medics.
"We told her the matter is before the courts," Ghanem told AFP adding that he had urged the wealthy European bloc to "take an interest also in the situation of the families of the victims, and lighten the burden" they were bearing.
On Tuesday, the EU envoy met some of the more than 380 Libyan children who were infected with the Human Immune-deficiency Virus at the Benghazi hospital where the six worked, as well as bereaved relatives of the 47 who have so far died from full-blown Acquired Immune-Deficiency Syndrome.
Families mounted a protest outside the city's Al-Fateh Children's Hospital as she entered, brandishing placards demanding that the European Union "condemn the hateful crime committed by the Bulgarian nurses rather than leaping to their defence."
Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov plans to raise the fate of the health workers during a visit to Libya later this week, which Ferrero-Waldner said "might be a very important further step."
Tripoli has said it will release them if the children's relatives are paid compensation equal to that which Libya paid to relatives of the victims of the 1988 Lockerbie plane bombing.
Bulgaria has refused, saying that would amount to acknowledging the nurses' guilt.
The children's families are pressing for the death sentences to be upheld and some have embarked on a hunger strike ahead of Parvanov's arrival on Friday.
Upon her return to Brussels, Ferrero-Waldner hinted Libya's improving ties with the EU -- including the possibility of its so-called Barcelona Process offering economic benefits to a group of Mediterranean-rim countries -- could be harmed by the case.
"Of course we would like to work with Libya ... but we have of course clear requirements" set out under the Barcelona Process rules. "We all know that there are other stumbling blocks," she added.
The Washington-based rights group Physicians for Human Rights called Wednesday for the "immediate and unconditional" release of the health workers.
Critics of the convictions say the six have been used as scapegoats for the poor hygiene conditions at the state-run hospital where they worked.
Bulgaria hopes to join the EU in 2007 but Brussels could yet trigger an unprecedented "safeguard clause" delaying entry until January 2008 if Sofia fails to make sufficient reform progress.
050525
AF050530
Copyright ©AFP 2005. All Rights Reserved. AFP articles contained on the AEGiS web site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without AFP's prior written permission. You may make one copy of each article for your personal, non-commercial use only; more copies would require AFP's prior written permission. obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP photos or materials. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP stories, photos or graphics. http://www.afp.com/
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Bridgestone Firestone Trust Fund, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2005. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
©1990, 2005 - AEGiS. AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content.
