Frattini sees hope for ‘Tripoli six’

Franco Frattini, the European commissioner for justice, freedom and security, has said that he is hopeful that the death sentences on five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor - the Tripoli six - by a Libyan court will be lifted.

He said a "political package" was being prepared involving Libya joining the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, which involves the EU giving aid and developing trade and political ties with countries in the region. Libya is not a member, although it has had observer status since 1999.

Frattini insisted the package was not a "political precondition" to the lifting of the death sentences, handed down following charges that more than 400 children were deliberately infected with HIV. "I am preparing a package, a political package, including some things to do and some things to ask in return but it is not a political precondition," said Frattini.

A recent court decision (27 May) to acquit the medical workers on charges of defamation was a positive sign, he said. Frattini also welcomed a statement by the Qaddafi Development Foundation - a charity headed by Said al-Islam, the son of Libyan President Muammar Qaddafi - which represents the children and their families, referring to "signs of a solution for this crisis in the near future".

"I think the Libyan authorities understood that they can have even closer co-operation with the European Union but they have to align [themselves with] European standards of protection of rights and fair and transparent justice and if they intend to do that, as the son of Mr Qaddafi intends to do, I think we are on a good track," Frattini told European Voice.

But co-operation with Libya would have to continue despite the death sentences, which were imposed by a court in May 2004, he added. "We have to co-operate because there are different fields. On the one hand we have to help children that are infected. I don’t believe the responsibility for infection [lies with] the nurses but people are infected, they are there in the hospital of Benghazi, we have to pay for them," he said.

The EU also needed Libya’s co-operation to stem the flow of illegal immigrants to Europe, Frattini added. "We have a real problem which is protection of our borders and co-operation on migration. I have to help the Libyan authorities to patrol the border and to rescue people in need in the desert," he said.

Discussions between Qaddafi and French President Nicolas Sarkozy and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair in the last two weeks also give hope that the nurses’ case could be resolved soon.

Franco Frattini, the European commissioner for justice, freedom and security, has said that he is hopeful that the death sentences on five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor - the Tripoli six - by a Libyan court will be lifted.