Bulgarian nurses latest

Acrimony and contradictory claims about the deal that enabled the freeing of the Bulgarian medics from Libya have emerged in the days since their homecoming.

In one of the newest twist, Muammar Gaddaffi’s son Seif al-Islam was quoted on August 1 as telling a French newspaper that the trade-offs included the transfer to Libya of a former Libyan secret service agent convicted of the 1988 terrorist bombing of a jumbo jet over the Scottish town of Lockerbie. Al-Islam said the deal also include the supply of French arms to Libya. Neither of these supposed trade-offs was mentioned in official accounts of the deal.

A few days after the medics were released, the families of the children in Libya that the medics were convicted of deliberately infecting with HIV expressed outrage at President Georgi Purvanov having pardoned the medics instead of them serving out their life sentences in Bulgaria. The Libyan government joined in the statements of outrage, and attempted to get the Arab League on board in diplomatically isolating Bulgaria. But beyond a supportive statement, the league made no specific move.

Bulgarian Government officials responded that the presidential pardon was within the law, and rejected Libyan allegations of having reneged on the terms that opened the way for the medics to come home.

Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin responded to the allegations that Bulgaria had violated the prisoner exchange agreement with little more than a statement to the effect that for Bulgaria, the case had ended – and had ended successfully.

In an earlier interview, Al-Islam said that statements by Libyan officials that they were “surprised” by the pardon given to the medics in turn surprised him. “It was obvious from the beginning that the Bulgarians were going to pardon the medics,” he said.

There were also contradictory statements about which country had contributed towards the financial settlement given to the families of the HIV-positive children. Notably, Libya denied claims that it was among contributors.

For many, the important statements were those that emerged as the medics themselves had their truths to tell, for the first time having clear opportunities to detail the harrowing tortures and abuse that they had endured in detention in Libya. Medical examinations have found them to be suffering severe psychological stress.

Source: Sofia Echo