Libya working behind scenes in AIDS case
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-16 22:26

Libya is working behind the scenes to find a way to resolve the case of five Bulgarian nurses facing a possible death sentence. Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi wants to win favor with the West, but he also needs to save face at home.

Picture dated February 18, 1992 of Libyan Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi before appearing at the Supreme court for a hearing in connection with the December 1988 Lockerbie bombing in Scotland. Tripoli has proposed exchanging Bulgarian nurses on death row in Libya for infecting hundreds of children with the HIV virus for Megrahi. [AFP]

The postponement Tuesday of a long-awaited Libyan Supreme Court decision on the fate of the five Bulgarian and one Palestinian medical workers apparently was made to provide breathing space for some type of deal to be reached.

The six were convicted in May 2004 of infecting more than 400 children with HIV and sentenced to death by firing squad. Human rights groups and others allege that Libya concocted the charges to cover up unhygienic practices in its hospitals.

"This is a case where Gadhafi's regime has no choice," said Saad Djebbar, a Libya analyst with the London-based Chatham House think tank. "This is a problem that the government wants to get rid of."

Djebbar said the court postponement "took into consideration that negotiations are going on with a view to solving this problem."

Added George Joffe, a Libyan researcher at the Center of International Studies at Cambridge University: "Gadhafi needs an excuse to be able to end the matter. He can't just end it like that. He's got some very angry (Libyan) families."

Joffe said any Libya- European Union talks are likely focused on humanitarian aid to the AIDS victims' families "that will be some sort of face-saving measure, that will allow Libya to get something in return."

Bulgaria has already rejected a Libyan suggestion that it pay compensation to the victims' families if Libya lifts the death sentences, saying it would imply their guilt.

But it is known that Gadhafi badly wants to continue improving his relations with the West — and especially seeks the opening of a U.S. Embassy in Tripoli.

Last month, President Bush warned: "There should be no confusion in the Libyan government's mind that those nurses ought to be not only spared ... but out of prison."

U.S. officials made clear again Tuesday that the nurses' case is a key sticking point that must be resolved before the United States will reopen a U.S. Embassy. Other human rights and terrorism issues also remain, said State Department spokesman Adam Ereli.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso also has said relations with Libya hinge on the nurses' fate.

Gadhafi has been largely successful in recent years in shedding his rogue image and improving Western ties, particularly since agreeing in 2003 to dismantle Libya's programs for weapons of mass destruction.

He also paid $2.7 billion to compensate the families of victims of the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland.

The moves have resulted in a warming of relations with the West, and the United States has said Libya could win full diplomatic recognition if it cleaned up its human rights and terror record.

Ashur Shamis, a Libyan dissident living in exile in London, said Libya was in a bind.

"Obviously if the court overturns the ruling, then the question will come up, 'Who is responsible for this crime?'" he said.

After the court postponement of a ruling until Jan. 31, angry Libyans outside the court clashed with riot police. Distressed parents held up photos of their children and demanded the death penalty for the nurses and doctor. At least 50 children reportedly have died.