Bulgaria and the European Union called on Libya yesterday to transfer six foreign medics to Sofia, after Tripoli lifted their death sentences for infecting hundreds of children with the HIV virus.
The five Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian doctor, who have spent more than eight years in jail, could be pardoned by the Balkan country's president if they are sent to Sofia under a 1984 prisoner exchange agreement with Libya.
Following hectic diplomatic talks and payment of hundreds of millions of dollars to the families of 460 HIV victims, Tripoli commuted the death sentences against the six to life imprisonment late on Tuesday, paving the way for their release.
EU newcomer Bulgaria and its allies in Washington and Brussels, who say the medics are innocent and have pushed for their release, reacted with relief to the Tripoli ruling but cautioned it was not the end to the eight-year ordeal.
"I am calling for calmness and a little bit more patience, Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev said. "We are taking and will be taking all steps to bring this whole case to an end as soon as possible and see our compatriots very soon on Bulgarian soil."
Chief Prosecutor Boris Velchev said he would send Libya a request for the medics' transfer by the end of the day, but his office later said the papers will be shipped by tomorrow.
The EU, which took part in negotiating the compensation deal with the HIV victims' families, said it had hoped for clemency but would now focus on helping to send the medics to Bulgaria.
"We hope now that the legal proceedings can start immediately for the transfer of the nurses and the medics back to Europe," EU Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner said.
The six were sentenced to death last year after being convicted of intentionally starting an HIV epidemic at a children's hospital in the Mediterranean port city of Benghazi.
The medics say they are innocent and confessions central to their case were extracted under torture.
In what is seen as a further step to their release, a Libyan court yesterday dismissed defamation charges against the medics by a police officer who they had accused of torture.
Sofia's Western allies have suggested that not freeing the nurses would hurt Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy's efforts to emerge from decades of diplomatic isolation, a process he began by scrapping a prohibited weapons program in 2003.
Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado, whose country holds the EU presidency, said a quick response to the medics' case from Tripoli could significantly improve ties with the bloc.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has pledged to make the medics' case a foreign policy priority, could visit Khadafy very soon if this helped to speed their release, a presidential spokesman said in Paris.
According to a website run by the official Libyan news agency Jana, Sarkozy told Khadafy in a phone call on Tuesday that Libya would be the first stop on his trip to Africa next week.
Source: China Daily/agencies
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