EU regrets Libyan medics ruling, hopeful on outcome

STRASBOURG, France, July 11 (Reuters) EU leaders said today they were still hopeful a solution could be found to free five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death in Libya in an HIV case after their sentence was upheld.

''We regret that these decisions have been taken, but I would also like to express my confidence that a solution will be found,'' EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told the European Parliament after Libya's Supreme Court upheld sentences on the medics on for infecting hundreds of children with HIV.

EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said in a separate statement: ''I firmly hope that clemency will be granted to the medical staff.'' Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates said his country, which holds the EU presidency, would do all it could to find a solution.

In Brussels, EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini said his reaction to the ruling was ''absolutely negative''.

The ruling came just one day after hopes were raised for a deal to win their release after eight years in detention, when Libya's Gaddafi Foundation charity said it had reached an accord with the children's families that ''puts an end to the crisis''.

Reuters KK DS1535