SOFIA, June 11, 2007 (AFP) - US President George W. Bush on Monday called on Libya to free five Bulgarian nurses facing the death penalty over the contamination of children with the AIDS virus.
"We strongly support the release of the Bulgarian nurses in Libya," Bush told a press conference in Sofia with President Georgy Parvanov on the last day of a European tour.
The call came amid mounting hopes that the five Bulgarians and one Palestinian doctor who have been in a Libyan jail for more than eight years could soon be freed. The senior EU officials were in Tripoli for talks on the case.
"They should be released and they should be allowed to return to their families. We will continue to make clear to Libya that the release of these nurses is a higher priority for your country," Bush said.
"Our hearts also go out to the children who have been infected by HIV/AIDS. Together with the EU, the United States is contributing to a fund providing assistance to the Libyan children suffering from this disease and to their families," Bush said.
"My hope is that this issue gets resolved quickly," he added.
The son of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi said earlier he believed the case of the six medics could be quickly settled.
"I hope that this case will be resolved soon, particularly if the demands of the (victims') families are met," Seif al-Islam said after holding talks about the case with two top European officials on Sunday in Tripoli.
The six were sentenced to death by a Libyan court in May 2004 after being found guilty of intentionally infecting 438 children with HIV-tainted blood at a hospital in the northeastern city of Benghazi. The sentence was confirmed in December 2006.
Fifty-six children have since died of the infection but the six foreigners maintain their innocence. International health experts said the hospital AIDS epidemic broke out because of poor hygiene long before the arrival of the defendants.
"In a marathon it is often the last mile that is the most difficult," Seif al-Islam, the head of the Kadhafi Foundation which has been involved in the negotiations, told AFP.
He described his talks with visiting EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier as "positive".
The two European officials met victims' families on Sunday and were due to meet the Bulgarian nurses on Monday.
The families' spokesman Idriss Lagha said they were assured of EU backing in resolving the case while the European officials confirmed their support for an international fund set up in 2005 for the families.
"However, they have not given a clear response" to proposals to increase compensation payments, Lagha added.
The death sentence against the nurses -- Kristiana Valcheva, Nasya Nenova, Valia Cherveniashka, Valentina Siropulo and Snezhana Dimitrova -- and Doctor Ashraf Ahmad Juma was upheld last December. The medics are still awaiting the result of their appeal.
The hearing was expected in early May but has been delayed to a date yet to be determined.
If the death penalty is confirmed, Libya's Supreme Judicial Council will have a final say in the high-profile case.
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