Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice received Bulgaria's highest honor for
urging the Libyan government to release five Bulgarian HIV
medics from one of its jails, Reuters reported on
Wednesday. The Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian
doctor were sentenced to death for allegedly infecting over
400 Libyan children with HIV. The group was released from
jail last year after the European Union forged a deal
with the Libyan government.
The Stara Planina
medal, created during the Communist era, has in the
past been awarded to foreign leaders such as Saddam Hussein
and Romanian Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu,
according to the report. Last year, French president
Nicolas Sarkozy and his ex-wife, Cecilia, were awarded
the medal for their involvement in the same case. Bulgarian
president Georgi Parvanov presented Rice with the
award.
"I am glad that
they are home safe," Rice said at the ceremony. "It
was indeed a terrible ordeal, one that I am very glad has
ended." (The Advocate)