Bulgarian nurses leave Libya in French presidential plane

The medics, held in Libya since 1999 for allegedly poisoning children with AIDS, were flown back to Sofia on Tuesday (24 July), bringing their ordeal to an end. But the personal role played in their release by French First Lady Cecilia Sarkozy remains controversial.

A French presidential plane carrying the five Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian doctor took off from Tripoli in the early hours of Tuesday (24 July 2007), bringing the group safely back to their homes in Bulgaria after more than eight years spent in prison.

French First Lady Cecilia Sarkozy and External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner arrived in Tripoli on Sunday (22 July) to hold a series of secretive talks to secure the repatriation of the medics. They were accompanied by Claude Guéant, a top aide to French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

In a statement, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Nicolas Sarkozy said they “salute the humanitarian gesture of Libya and of its highest leader”, Moammar Gadhafi, adding that they “commit themselves to do everything to help the AIDS-affected children” in Libya.

Barroso and Sarkozy also expressed their “profound gratitude to the Emir and the State of Qatar whose mediation has allowed for this happy solution”.

However, Sarkozy’s personal involvement in the medics’ release has caused tensions with Brussels, which had been steering negotiations with Libya since 2004. Commission officials had not been informed when Sarkozy’s wife, Cecilia, first arrived in Tripoli on 12 July to offer assistance in the negotiations.

But in the second and decisive visit ten days later, Cecilia appeared flanked by Ferrero-Waldner, suggesting that Paris and Brussels had mended their differences and stepped up co-ordination.

“This solution would have not been possible without the efforts and the determination of the European Commission, in particular the member of the Commission in charge of external relations, Ms Benita Ferrero-Waldner throughout the whole process,” the Commission said in a statement that also praised “the personal commitment of Ms Cecilia Sarkozy”.

Libya has requested a complete normalisation of relations with the EU in exchange for the nurses’ liberation, Reuters reported on Monday (23 July), citing an official source in Libya. The French president, who has been championing talks for a ‘Mediterranean Union’, is said to be scheduling an official visit to Libya on Wednesday.

The five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor were accused of having deliberately infected children with HIV/AIDS in Lybia and have been held for trial since 1999. The medics have all denied the charges against them, saying that their confessions were extracted under torture.

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