Bulgaria in payback for Libya

SOFIA – Bulgaria may write off Libya’s foreign debt to the country as part of humanitarian aid measures, the Bulgarian prime minister said yesterday.

Cancelling the US$54 million debt would not be payback for Tripoli’s release on Tuesday of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor, Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev said. It should not be viewed “as paying ransom, or admitting (the medical workers’) guilt, but rather as a humanitarian gesture,” he said.Until now, Bulgaria has vehemently rejected the idea of paying compensation to the families, or writing off some of Libya’s debt, saying such a move would be seen as an admission of the guilt of the nurses, who spent more than eight years in jail over widely rejected accusations that they deliberately infected Libyan children with HIV.”The fund, chaired by an EU representative, is aimed at helping the families of the Libyan HIV-infected children, by providing medical care, medical facilities and training of medical personnel,” Stanishev said.Nampa-APIt should not be viewed “as paying ransom, or admitting (the medical workers’) guilt, but rather as a humanitarian gesture,” he said.Until now, Bulgaria has vehemently rejected the idea of paying compensation to the families, or writing off some of Libya’s debt, saying such a move would be seen as an admission of the guilt of the nurses, who spent more than eight years in jail over widely rejected accusations that they deliberately infected Libyan children with HIV.”The fund, chaired by an EU representative, is aimed at helping the families of the Libyan HIV-infected children, by providing medical care, medical facilities and training of medical personnel,” Stanishev said.Nampa-AP