Libya urges
Bulgaria to pay to lift death sentences in HIV case

Libya is calling on the Bulgarian government to negotiate the payment of a sum of money to win amnesty for six medics--five Bulgarians and a Palestinian--who were sentenced to death for allegedly infecting 400 Libyan children with HIV. The medics, who were arrested in 1999 and sentenced to death in 2004, maintain their innocence and say they have been tortured. Islamic law allows a death sentence to be avoided if the victims' families receive a "diya," or blood money payment. Libyan officials have suggested the death sentences could be reconsidered if the families are compensated and those children who remain alive are treated. Bulgaria has rejected Libya's previous calls for compensation to the families. (AP)