Libyan officials say Tripoli will not give up until Bulgaria reverses pardon for sentenced medics

Top Libyan officials on Saturday reiterated protests over Bulgaria's pardoning of six medical workers and said Tripoli will not give up its demand that the medics serve out their life sentences.

The medics _ five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor _ had twice been sentenced to death in Libya for allegedly infecting some 426 children in the coastal city of Benghazi in the late 1990s. The charges were widely denounced abroad as false.

Libya commuted their sentences to life in prison and allowed them to fly to Bulgaria on Tuesday, under a deal sponsored by France allowing the medics to serve their sentences at home.

Once in Bulgaria, the six were granted an immediate presidential pardon _ an act that infuriated the families of the Libyan children infected with AIDS and prompted Tripoli to lodge a complaint with the Bulgarian Embassy here.

Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel-Rahman Shalqam said Saturday that Libya has asked the Arab League to take up Tripoli's case at a meeting of the group in Cairo on Monday.

"We have sent a memo to the Arab League to review its position toward Bulgaria," Shalqam said but did not elaborate on what action the Arab states could take. "Bulgaria didn't respect the international law, the mediators, and the agreements."

Shalqam said Libya would also ask for support from the European Union and the Organization of Islamic Conference.

"They must stand by our side because this issue concerns the values of our nations and peoples," Shalqam said, speaking at a press conference together with Libyan Prime Minister Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi and representatives of the families of the infected children.

Shalqam's comments were a reversal from his earlier statement that the Bulgarian president had the right to pardon the medics and appeared to be an attempt to appease public anger at home.

"Libya will not remain silent, we will follow this issue ... until we get our rights back," said al-Mahmoudi, the prime minister, adding that Libya expects "countries which sponsored this deal" to "follow it up."

Sofia has argued that after the medics returned home, they were to serve out their sentences according to Bulgarian law, which allows for a president pardon.

The eight-year case has been widely condemned by the international community. The medics said they were innocent, and that their earlier confessions had been extracted under torture.

Idris Lagha of the Libyan Association for the Families of HIV-Infected Children, said Saturday that the families have asked the Libyan government to cut off diplomatic relations with Bulgaria, suspend permits for Bulgarian companies operating in Libya and deport all Bulgarian workers from the country.

The medics, jailed since 1999, denied infecting the children and said their initial confessions were extracted under torture.

During their trials, international experts testified that the infections were caused by unclean conditions at the hospitals where the children were treated. In 2005, the nurses filed a lawsuit in a Libyan court alleging 10 Libyan officers had tortured them, but the court rejected the case.

Once free in Bulgaria, three of the nurses said they wanted to take legal action against the people they say tortured them in Libyan custody.

The Palestinian doctor, Ashraf al-Hazouz, described in an interview Friday horrendous acts of torture he suffered, but said he was forced to sign a statement that he had been treated well.

Libya has given no indication it would cooperate in any torture probe and Shalqam on Saturday dismissed the torture claims.

"There is a difference between documented incidents and between nonsense. This is called nonsense," he said, adding that Tripoli was not concerned over the prospects of a lawsuit by the nurses.

"Such nonsense doesn't worry us," Shalqam said. "The ball now is in Bulgaria court ... It's their turn to get worried because we will keep following up all the issues from all sides."

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Associated Press reporter Maggie Michael in Cairo, Egypt, contributed to this report.