Via the BBC: HIV medics released to Bulgaria

Six Bulgarian medics who were serving life sentences in Libya have arrived in Bulgaria following their release, ending their eight-year incarceration.

They were immediately pardoned by Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov.

The five nurses and a Palestinian-born doctor were convicted of deliberately infecting Libyan children with HIV - charges they have always denied.

The release was made possible by a deal struck in Tripoli on improving Libya-EU ties, following years of negotiations.

They had, until last week, been under a death sentence that was commuted to life in prison.

It is the end of a nightmare for the six:

The medics were convicted of deliberately injecting the 438 children with HIV-tainted blood. Fifty-six of the children have since died.

The six, who have been in prison since 1999, say they were tortured to confess.

Foreign experts say the infections started before the medics arrived at the hospital, and are more likely to have been a result of poor hygiene.