BELGIUM/FILE: Agreement on care deal for Libyan children infected with HIV but no compensation agreed by EU yet

Record ID: 725877

  • Title: BELGIUM/FILE: Agreement on care deal for Libyan children infected with HIV but no compensation agreed by EU yet
  • Date: 23rd June 2007
  • Summary: (W3) TRIPOLI, LIBYA (FILE - NOVEMBER 4, 2006) (REUTERS) FOUR OF THE BULGARIAN NURSES AND PALESTINIAN DOCTOR BEHIND BARS JUDGE MAHMOUD HAOUISSA PRESIDING OVER COURT PALESTINIAN DOCTOR, ASHRAF ALHAJOUJ, TALKING THROUGH BARS BULGARIAN NURSE, CHRISTIANA VALCHEVA, TALKING THROUGH BARS COURTROOM
  • Embargoed: 8th July 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: European Union
  • Reuters ID: LVA1JP05EHZAW3Q385JKHLI1Y5Z7
  • Story Text: Agreement on care deal for Libyan children infected with HIV but no compensation agreed by EU yet. EU officials trying to free six medics jailed in Libya for infecting 426 children with HIV have offered medical care for the children but have yet to agree on compensation for their families, a Libyan source said on Friday (June 22).
    The five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor were sentenced to death in December for deliberately injecting the children with HIV after a highly politicised trial that has strained Tripoli's relations with the West.
    The nurses, in jail since 1999, say they are innocent and were tortured to confess.
    The chairman of an association for the children's families said this week a deal with the European Union on the main sticking point of financial compensation might be wrapped up in coming days. On Friday it appeared that had not yet happened.
    "Despite the difficulties during the process of negotiation, there is an agreement on the first items regarding the treatment and medical care for the children," said the source at the Gaddafi Development Foundation, a charity run by a son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
    "The issue regarding the value of compensation is still under discussion."
    Christiane Hohmann, a spokeswoman for the European Commission said the Benghazi fund would allow the infected children treament.
    "This fund will .. have the means to assure this kind of treatment. We Europeans have talked to the representatives of the families about the set-up and the character of that fund and we have agreed with the families on the character set-up and also the direction of that fund," said Hohmann.
    Hopes for a deal securing the medics' release grew last week after a visit to Libya by European Union External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
    Besides healthcare for the children, Libya is demanding 10 million euros (13 million U.S. Dollar) for each infected child's family.
    New EU member Bulgaria and its allies have said no because it would be an admission of the nurses' guilt, but have offered a fund for treatment at European hospitals for the children.
    The nurses have appealed against their sentences to Libya's Supreme Court, which is expected to rule on the case next month.
    The court is widely expected to confirm the death penalty, throwing the final decision back to Libya's Higher Judicial Council, a government-led body which has the power to commute sentences
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