The process that led to the release of five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian doctor from Libyan prisons has met with criticism from political parties as diverse as the French Socialists and UK Conservatives.
"Today's outcome is based on a series of deals which provide medical assistance for Libya's infected children and some £230 million in compensation to their families," said the European Parliament's rapporteur for Bulgaria, Geoffrey Van Orden, a British Conservative who has been campaigning for the nurses' release.
Van Orden added: "I am very dubious about the proposed 'closer EU ties' with a country that conducts itself in such a way. What signal does this send? If anything, the Libyan authorities should be compensating the nurses for their appalling ordeal. We should not be giving credit to Gaddafi's political opportunism and Libya's backward judicial system."
The release was made possible by means of a deal negotiated by EU External Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, which is said to include €290 million to be paid to the Gaddafi Foudation, led by the Libyan leader's son Seif al-Islam. Ferrero-Waldner said that the release marked "a new page in the history of relations between the EU and Libya".
The money is to be passed on to the international Benghazi Fonds to assist the infected children's families. It is intended as compensation for the pain and suffering of the families of 438 children who were infected with the HIV virus - before the medics' arrival, experts say - in the Bengazi hospital where the doctor and the nurses worked. The nurses say that they were tortured into making confessions.
Commission President José Manuel Barroso said that the EU could now begin to normalise trade and political ties with Libya, adding that the European market could be opened to Libyan farm and fishery products. Barroso said that there could also be co-operation in archaeology, education and healthcare for the Libyan children infected with HIV.
Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director of NGO Human Rights Watch, pointed out that human-rights abuses in Libyan prisons remain a deep concern, even after the release of the nurses and doctor. Whitson said: "The release of the six foreign healthcare workers is a welcome step, but others remain in prison after torture and unfair trials, including political prisoners. Libyan authorities need to reform the judicial system that unjustly imprisoned these health workers for more than eight years."
Pierre Moscovici, former French European Affairs Minister and outgoing MEP, criticised the role that the French Presidential couple played in the deal with Libya, accusing Nicolas and Cécilia Sarkozy of playing a "cuckoo strategy" in trying capitalise on the work done by others.
