AIDS case deal would forgive Libyan debt

Libyan debt dating back to the Cold War would be forgiven under a proposal to compensate families whose children were allegedly infected with AIDS by six foreign medics, a victims' advocate said Saturday.

Five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor have been sentenced to death in the case, and Libyan officials have said a settlement could pave the way for their release.

Jailed since 1999, the medics deny having infected the children and say their confessions were extracted under torture. Experts and outside scientific reports have said the children were contaminated as a result of unhygienic conditions at a hospital in the northeastern coastal city of Benghazi.

Idriss Lagha, head of the Association for the Families of HIV-Infected Children, told The Associated Press that a settlement was being finalized involving the transfer of money to a fund through the remission of debt to Bulgaria and several other eastern European countries.

The son of longtime Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi told a French newspaper Saturday that a $400 million compensation would be paid to the families.

"The indemnities are financed by international contributions in the form of debt remission," Seif al Islam was quoted as saying by Le Figaro newspaper. "The concerned countries are Bulgaria, Slovakia, Croatia and the Czech Republic."

Companies in the four countries are all owed money from Libya largely dating back to the communist era. Bulgaria says Libya owes it $290 million, and the Czech news agency CTK put the Libyan debt to Prague at about $300 million in 2002.

An agreement on the case has "not yet been reached" with the European Union, said Seif al Islam, who heads a powerful Libyan association that has worked to resolve the deadlock.

Le Figaro, without citing sources, reported that each family would get $1 million.

Government officials from Bulgaria and other nations reportedly involved in the deal all denied they were sending cash to the families.

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin reiterated Friday that Bulgaria would not pay compensations because that would imply the medics were guilty. But he also said he was optimistic a settlement was close that could result in the medics being pardoned.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman was not immediately available for comment Saturday.

Czech Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Opletalova said the medics' case "is not over yet and it is premature to speak about any compensation."

The Czech Finance Ministry would not comment, nor would the Slovak National Bank.

The Libyan government is under intense international pressure to free the medics. The case has become a sticking point in the regime's attempts to rebuild ties with the United States and European countries.

Libya's Supreme Judiciary Council is set to review the case on Monday, and could approve or reject the convictions or set lighter sentences.

Libyan officials have said the families' acceptance of a compensation settlement is key to resolving the deadlock, as it would allow the death sentence to be withdrawn.

Often referred to as "blood money," compensation for death or suffering is a legal provision in the traditional Islamic code in the Middle East and North Africa.

The Benghazi International Fund was created in 2005 to prepare for such a compensation deal, Lagha said. Fifty of the children infected with AIDS have died.