Libyan AIDS case
set for retrial in May

Bulgaria's foreign ministry says that the retrial of five Bulgarian nurses under sentence of death for intentionally infecting hospitalized Libyan children with HIV will begin on May 11. The nurses, who were arrested in 1999 and sentenced in 2004, have maintained their innocence. Libya's supreme court threw out the death sentences on December 25 and ordered a retrial. Shortly before the ruling, U.S., European, Bulgarian, and Libyan negotiators reached a deal to set up a nongovernmental fund to aid the families of the 426 HIV-infected children. Bulgaria had rejected the suggestion that it pay compensation to the families, saying this would imply the nurses were guilty. Feim Chaushev, Bulgaria's foreign minister, said the retrial will have a "just" outcome. "The Bulgarian nurses will return home by the end of September, if not earlier," he said. (AP)