SOFIA, July 24, 2007 (AFP) - Six foreign medics jailed for life in Libya for infecting children with the AIDS virus were freed and flown to Bulgaria on Tuesday, after the European Union struck a deal to improve ties with Tripoli.
The five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian doctor, who have always denied the charges against them and say their confessions were extracted under torture, were pardoned on arrival in Sofia by Bulgarian President Georgy Parvanov.
The six were brought back on a French presidential plane together with French first lady Cecilia Sarkozy and EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
They were met at the airport by tearful relatives who had lobbied for their release throughout their eight-year ordeal, during which they spent three years on death row awaiting execution.
"I know that I am free. I know that I am in Bulgaria but even though I have incessantly hoped, prayed for that, I still cannot believe it!," said one nurse Kristiana Valcheva.
Libya said it had ordered their release after it was satisfied the conditions it laid down for extradition had been met.
"The matter has been settled. We received guarantees for the normalisation of relations with European countries and for a partnership agreement with the European Union," a Libyan official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
In Brussels, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso confirmed that a deal had been struck on improving ties with Tripoli.
"I told (Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi) that if this matter were settled we would do our best to further normalise these relations," he said.
Ferrero-Waldner said the release had cleared the way for "new and enhanced" EU ties with Tripoli, under an agreed memorandum that would see Brussels boost imports of Libyan products and ease visa restrictions for Libyans.
The EU has had no bilateral agreements with Tripoli since imposing sanctions on Libya following the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, and has not started negotiations for an accord since UN sanctions were lifted in 2003.
The United States described the return of the medics as a "very positive development" that would help bring about changes in Tripoli's relationshsip with the rest of the world.
The six were arrested in 1999 and convicted in May 2004 of deliberately infecting 438 children with HIV-tainted blood at a hospital in the Mediterranean city of Benghazi. Fifty-six children have since died.
They were originally sentenced to death but that was commuted to life in prison last week after a multi-million dollar compensation deal was hammered out with victims' families.
The Palestinian doctor has since been granted Bulgarian citizenship.
Following the medics' release, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who will travel to Tripoli on Wednesday, stressed that neither France nor the European Union had paid "the slightest financial compensation".
However, Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Shalgham responded that both Paris and Brussels had contributed.
Cecilia Sarkozy and Ferrero-Waldner had flown to Tripoli on Sunday to push for the medics' swift release.
At one point, negotiations appeared to have stalled with Libya setting further conditions, including the normalisation of relations with the EU, as well as EU funding for infrastructure projects such as a cross-border motorway from the border with Tunisia to the frontier with Egypt.
The medics have repeatedly denied any responsibility for the infection of the Libyan children, which foreign experts have blamed on poor hygiene at the hospital.
"The only thing that kept me alive during all these years, (through) the painful, terrible tortures, the uncertainty, the death sentences, was the belief I cherished in my heart, in my soul, that we are innocent," nurse Valentina Siropulo said after arriving in Sofia.
Amnesty International welcomed the resolution of a case that had been "riddled with injustice".
Normal life ground to a halt in Sofia after news of the release broke, with people standing still in the streets, listening to portable radios or staring at television sets in cafes and shops.
After their arrival, the medics were taken to a presidential residence on the outskirts of Sofia where they will undergo health checks before returning to their family homes. They were scheduled to give a press conference on Wednesday.
070724
AF070702
Copyright ©AFP 2007. 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, Bridgestone/Firestone Charitable Trust, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Elton John AIDS Foundation, John M. Lloyd Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Roche and Trimeris, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2007. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Copyright ©1980, 2007. AEGiS. 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.