US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated Friday that Libya must free five Bulgarian nurses imprisoned on charges they intentionally infected children with HIV. "The Bulgarian nurses have been too long in captivity," Rice said in Sofia.
"This is a humanitarian case and it is time for them to come home." The nurses and a Palestinian doctor have been held in Libya since 1999.
Europe, the United States and human rights groups accused Libya of concocting the charges to cover up poor hygiene conditions at its hospitals they say caused the infections.
