BRUSSELS - The European Commission welcomed Tuesday a delay in a Libyan court ruling on six foreign medics facing death over an AIDS-tainted blood tragedy, but called for a final decision "as a matter of urgency."
EU external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, who visited Tripoli last week, underlined the need for a speedy ruling because of the condition of the six defendants.
"I welcome this decision. It indicates that the Libyan supreme court accepts that the original trial needs additional consideration and that the death sentence ... cannot be confirmed," she said.
Of the six medics -- five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor, she said: "It is clear to me that they are under great psychological pressure and cannot go on very much longer.
"After more than six years in jail it`s imperative that a just solution be found as a matter of urgency."
The six were condemned in 2004 on charges of injecting 380 children with blood transfusions infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Forty-seven of those children have died.
The accused maintain their innocence. Two nurses and the doctor initially confessed to charges but later said police had extracted the confessions with torture, including beatings and electric shocks.
Washington and the European Union have been pressuring Libya over the case, which has strained relations between Sofia and Tripoli just as Moamer Kadhafi`s regime is returning to the international fold after years of isolation.
In Libya Tuesday Judge Ali al-Allush said the case had been put back to November 15, but gave no further details.
His decision follows a weekend visit to Libya by Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov to plead for the lives of the five convicted Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor.
Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy, speaking at a meeting with EU counterparts in Luxembourg, also welcomed the court delay -- and forecast that the imprisoned medics could be released after the November
"We have the reading that the court is starting (to listen) more carefully to the arguments of the defence," he said.
"We believe this postponement will be the last one. We hope so ... We hope to have our people back in Bulgaria this year. What is important for us is that this case remains to be a priority in the relations between the EU and Libya."
05/31/2005 12:13 GMT