EU to boost ties with Libya after HIV medics deal

BRUSSELS, July 24 (Reuters) The European Union will boost ties with Tripoli after Libya's release of six foreign medics convicted of infecting Libyan children with HIV, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said today.

''We said to the Libyan authorities that we are ready to further normalise the relations,'' Barroso told reporters in Brussels. ''Our relations with Libya were in a large extent blocked by the non-settlement of this medics' issue.'' Five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian-born doctor landed in Sofia today after diplomatic talks secured their release from a Libyan jail.

''We may expect progress in the different fields of our cooperation,'' Barroso said when asked if Libya could expect benefits on trade opening, assistance for infrastructure projects, or any other financial help.

''We have not increased our financial contribution, which we had already negotiated with the Libyans for quite some time,'' he said.

EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner was in Tripoli to help free the medics and flew with them to Sofia. She signed a two-page deal with Libya, laying out how ties could be boosted, and confirming the EU's offer of medical care for the infected children and a Benghazi hospital, a European source said.

''It covers everything -- trade, support for archaeology, illegal immigration, grants for students and visa questions,'' the source said.

The European Commission still needs to ask EU governments for a mandate to strike deals with Libya on these matters, the source said.

The medics were pardoned by Bulgaria's President Georgi Parvano after they arrived in Sofia. They flew home in a French presidential jet, accompanied by Ferrero-Waldner and France's first lady, Cecilia Sarkozy.

Several EU member states have extensive trade ties with Libya. The EU has said resolving the dispute over the medics was a precondition for moving towards fuller ties.

REUTERS GT KP1602