Libya's Council to meet on medics case on July 16

TRIPOLI, July 11 (Reuters) Libya's High Judicial Council will meet on Monday to decide whether to uphold, overturn or commute the death sentences on six foreign medics, Libya's foreign minister said today.

''The case of the six medics was moved to the High Judicial Council today after the Supreme Court's decision and the Council will meet on the case on July 16,'' Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Shalgam told reporters.

''This Council has the power to confirm the death sentences, cancel them or commute the sentences,'' Shalgam added.

The five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor were sentenced to death in December after being convicted of infecting 426 Libyan children with the HIV virus while they worked at a children's hospital in the city of Benghazi in the 1990s.

The Council's decision may take time and it would depend on non-judiciary considerations, including compensation for families of the infected children, Shalgam said.

''It is not known how many sessions the High Council will meet before taking a decision. The number of its meetings is not known because they are linked to technical matters,'' Shalgam said.

''The Council will take into consideration several factors like compensation, the age and the time spent by the prisoners in jail,'' he added.

REUTERS KK PM1833