Libya asks Arab League to review Bulgaria ties

TRIPOLI, July 28 (Reuters) Libya has called on other Arab countries to review their ties with Bulgaria after it pardoned six medics that Libya had jailed for infecting hundreds of children with HIV.

''Yes, we submitted a memorandum to the Arab League and we demanded a review of the Arab position with regard to Bulgaria,'' Libyan Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Shalgam told reporters in Tripoli today.

The league's members are due to meet tomorrow.

Libya commuted death sentences on the five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor to life in prison after the victims' families were paid 1 million dollars each in a settlement financed by an international fund.

In a subsequent deal, the European Union promised closer ties with Libya in exchange for custody of the five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian doctor, who were flown to Bulgaria this week and immediately pardoned and freed by the president.

Libya said the pardon violated bilateral accords it had signed with Bulgaria.

Reuters JT GC2047