Bush says high priority to release nurses in Libya

SOFIA, June 11 (Reuters) US President George W Bush said today it was a high priority for the United States to secure the release of five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death in Libya for infecting children with HIV.

''We strongly support the release of the Bulgarian nurses in Libya,'' Bush told a news conference in Sofia.

''It's a high priority for our country,'' Bush said. ''Our hearts also go out to the children that have been infected by HIV and AIDS.'' The five nurses and a Palestinian doctor were convicted in December of deliberately infecting 426 children with HIV in a highly politicised trial that has hampered attempts by OPEC member Libya to restore full relations in the west.

REUTERS SKB DS1350