Libya again moves forward with AIDS court case

Libyan prosecutors on Monday again charged six Bulgarian health officials with deliberately infecting 393 children with HIV in 1999, refiling the charges after they--and charges of conspiracy--were dropped six months ago. Prosecutors on Monday decided there was enough evidence in the case to again press charges, and the case was returned to the nation's criminal court. Seif el-Islam Gadhafi, the son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, has promised the Bulgarian government that he will monitor the upcoming trial to guarantee that the defendants are not unfairly tried. The Bulgarians, five nurses and a doctor, have been held since February 1999 after being charged with deliberately using HIV-infected blood products to treat the children at a hospital in Benghazi. All six have pleaded not guilty to the charges. It is unclear when the next phase of the trial will begin.