SOFIA, Aug 2, 2007 (AFP) - Bulgaria said Thursday it had decided to write off Libya's communist-era debt as a contribution to an international fund for the victims of an AIDS epidemic blamed by Tripoli on six Bulgarian medics.
"Bulgaria's contribution to the international Benghazi Fund will come from cancelling Libya's debt to Bulgaria of 56,635,373.85 US dollars (41.5 million euros)," the government's information service said in a statement.
"With this money, Bulgaria will help the Libyan government continue renovation of its medical infrastructure, treatment of the HIV-infected children, and payment of financial aid to their families," it added.
The move followed the release last week of the five nurses and a doctor held by Libya for eight years and at one time under a death sentence for allegedly infecting more than 400 children with the AIDS virus at a hospital in Benghazi.
Bulgaria, the European Union and Libya set up the so-called Benghazi Fund in 2006 to help the children and their families as part of a deal to obtain the release of the medics.
"A total of 17 governments, nine private companies and a non-governmental organisation have pledged donations to the fund so far," the government said.
Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev had said earlier that Sofia might pardon Libya's debt, accumulated during Bulgaria's communist era when the two countries traded intensively, but that this should not be considered as "ransom or an admission of guilt," only as humanitarian aid.
The six, the five nurses and the Palestinian-born doctor who was granted Bulgarian nationality during the case, were released on July 24, ostensibly to serve out their life sentences in their home country, but received a presidential pardon upon their return to Sofia, triggering Libyan protests.
The medics have always maintained their innocence, with the support of international experts who have said the infections occurred before their arrival at the hospital and were sparked by poor hygiene.
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