Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Reuters NewMedia - November 10, 2005
Mark Trevelyan

Asked if he thought the five were guilty, Saif al-Islam told Reuters: "Personally I don't think so, but nevertheless we have a tragedy. Whether it's a conspiracy as they said, which I don't believe in, or negligence or mismanagement, at the end we have a tragedy which is a matter of fact and we can't ignore."

He added: "You know, I'm not a forensic expert but I don't think that it was a plot or a conspiracy. This is my own perception."

The case has become a hurdle to Libya's continuing improved relations with the West, and the European Union and the United States are both following it closely.

The nurses insist they are innocent and the only evidence against them consists of confessions extracted under torture.

U.S. President George W. Bush intervened in the issue last month, saying Libya should free the nurses and "we'll continue to make that message perfectly clear" to Tripoli.

Speaking during a break at a security conference in Berlin, Gaddafi's son said Washington was "not part of the issue" but was welcome to help.

"But if they want to help they have to help both sides and not just take one part of the story and neglect the other part."

He noted more than 400 Libyan children had been infected with the HIV virus which causes AIDS, and dozens had died. "We should find a solution for the families also."

FINAL APPEAL NEXT WEEK

The five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor were convicted last year and sentenced to death for deliberately infecting more than 400 children at a hospital in Benghazi.

Libya's supreme court is due to rule on their final appeal next week. Bulgaria said it hoped for a fair hearing.

"Bulgaria has always believed in the nurses' innocence," said foreign ministry spokesman Dimitar Tsanchev.

"We expect the Libyan supreme court, on November 15, to take into consideration the convincing evidence presented by the defense and supported in a most categorical way by prominent, internationally recognised medical experts."

Asked if anything could be done to resolve the crisis before then, Saif al-Islam said: "The most important thing is to find an urgent settlement with the families of the victims. This is the core issue in order to find light at the end of the tunnel."

Libya has urged Bulgaria to compensate the families of the infected children but Sofia has refused, saying this would be tantamount to admitting guilt.

Gaddafi's son heads an influential charitable foundation which has played a key part in negotiating with Western countries over compensation for bombings in which Libya, long regarded by Washington as a "rogue state", was implicated.

The oil-producing North African state has dramatically improved ties with the West since Gaddafi renounced weapons of mass destruction in December 2003, but has yet to restore full diplomatic relations with Washington.

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(Additional reporting by Michael Winfrey in Sofia)

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