Libya's Supreme Court on Wednesday long-established the death punishment not in favor of six foreign medics found guilty of infecting hundreds of children with the AIDS virus in a case that has dragged on for eight years. The five Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian doctor were not in court for the verdict, announced the day after a compensation deal was sealed with the children's families that could see the death sentences commuted to prison terms. They were first condemned to death in May 2004.
The Supreme Judicial Council of the country headed by the minister of justice can change the Supreme Court verdict.  An official of the Kadhafi Foundation run by the son of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi which is mediating in the crisis, had said on Tuesday that a compromise acceptable to the families had been reached."This accord satisfied all the parties and puts an end to this crisis," he said, adding that the deal was between the families and a special aid fund for victims set up by Tripoli and Sofia in 2005 under the European Union.