Libya details medic release deal

Libya’s PM gave details of the agreement signed with the EU
Libya has given details about the deal that led to the release of six foreign medics, found guilty of deliberately infecting 438 children with HIV/Aids.
It said backing for a fund for the victims had come mainly from the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Qatar.

The Libyan PM strongly condemned Bulgaria for pardoning the medics - who always protested their innocence - as soon as they arrived in the country.

The six were freed last week after Libya reached a deal with the EU.

Libyan officials said on Saturday they had sent a memo to the Arab League calling for action against Sofia as well as a protest to the EU over the pardoning.

The authorities said that Bulgaria was in violation of international law and their bilateral agreement with Libya on prisoner exchange.

International fund

Libyan Prime Minister Baghdadi Mahmudi revealed details of the agreement that was signed with the EU, which led to the extradition of the nurses and doctor.

The Bulgarian leader pardoned the medics on arrival in Sofia
At a news conference in Tripoli, he said the government had not paid into the Benghazi International Fund, which provided $1m (500,000) for each of the infected children.

Mr Mahmudi said the money primarily had come from Qatar, Slovakia, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic but he did not specify the size of the contributions.

He said France had promised to equip the Benghazi hospital - where the six medics worked and the children were infected - and provide training for Libyan medical staff over five years.

The BBC’s Rana Jawad in Tripoli says that the EU is set to significantly ease restrictions on visas for citizens, which could see Libyans obtain them within 48 hours.

Earlier this month, Libya commuted to life imprisonment, the death sentences imposed on the five Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian-born doctor after the families of the infected children agreed to the compensation deal.

The medics’ release to Bulgaria was made possible by a deal struck in Tripoli on improving Libya-EU ties, following years of negotiations.