Libya plans to scrap the death penalty to clear the way for the settlement of a diplomatic row over five Bulgarian nurses on death row after hundreds of children were infected with the Aids virus, an Arabic daily said on Wednesday.
Tripoli ”is about to announce the abolishment of capital punishment to pave the way for commuting the sentences against the five Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian doctor” convicted with them last year, the London-based paper Asharq al-Awsat reported, citing Arab diplomats close to the Libyan government.
The deal would involve financial compensation for the infected children’s families through a fund financed by the Bulgarian and Libyan governments and charities including that of Libyan leader Moammar Gadaffi’s son, Seif al-Islam.
”The crisis of the Bulgarian nurses … will soon be settled through a Libyan-Bulgarian deal, sponsored by the European Union and the United States,” the Saudi-owned daily said.
The EU and US have thrown their support behind Bulgaria’s insistence that the nurses are innocent and that the infections in the Benghazi hospital where they worked were the result of poor hygiene.
They and international rights watchdogs have been pressing Libya to show clemency.
Libya insists the only way to resolve the case is for Bulgarian authorities to reach an agreement with the infected children’s families, but Sofia has insisted it will pay no ”blood money” as the nurses are innocent.
Commenting on the report, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivaylo Kalfin told reporters in Sofia: ”I can only repeat once again the Bulgarian stance, which is quite clear and unchanged.
”Bulgaria has no intention whatsoever to pay compensation to the families of the children because there is no reason for us to do so.
”I still expect from the Libyan court, if it is objective enough, to take into consideration all the evidence on the case that proves the innocence of the Bulgarian nurses,” Kalfin said.
Of the 380 children infected with HIV, 47 have since died of full-blown Aids.
The five nurses and Palestinian doctor were sentenced to death last year after spending six-and-a-half years on remand. The Libyan High Court is due to decide on November 15 whether to hear an appeal. — Sapa-AFP