Libya Condemns Six Foreign Medics to Death




As soon as the sentence of death by firing squad was announced by Fadallah el-Sherif, the head of the five-judge panel that heard the case, five relatives of the infected children shouted: "Allahu akbar!" or "God is great!"

There was no visible reaction from the accused.

Under Libyan law, death sentences generate an automatic appeal.

"I thank God for this sentence," said Abdel Razek al-Odaibi, father of an infected child. "If there is a greater sentence than death, I would have wished it for them."


In Sofia, Bulgarian government spokesman Dimitar Tsonev said the verdict was "unacceptable."

"The verdict not only will be appealed, but we will make every possible effort to declare the medics not guilty," Tsonev said.

Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen told his Libyan counterpart, Abdul Rahman Shalghan, that the European Union has "serious concerns" about the fairness of the trial, EU spokesman Diego de Ojeda said.

"This is a very negative surprise for us," Ojeda said. "The European Union has assessed severe irregularities during the trial in terms of the rights of defense."


Many relatives stood outside the packed court, holding pictures of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and placards that read: "God is great" and "Long live justice."

Prosecutors demanded death sentences, accusing the defendants of intentionally infecting more than 400 children with HIV-contaminated blood (search) as part of an experiment to find a cure for AIDS. Twenty-three of the children reportedly have died of AIDS.





They were then placed under house arrest in Tripoli and detained again when their trial began in the eastern city of Benghazi (search) in September, according to Bulgarian media reports.




