Bulgarian president thanks Bush for help on medics

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Bulgarian President Georgy Parvanov thanked US President George W. Bush yesterday for his help in winning freedom for six foreign medics who faced the death penalty in Libya, the White House said.

"President Parvanov of Bulgaria called President Bush to thank him for the assistance and support of the United States resulting in the safe return of the Bulgarian nurses and doctor," said Bush spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

Bush received the telephone call aboard his Air Force One airplane on his way to Charleston, South Carolina, for a speech defending his unpopular strategy in Iraq.

The six medics, jailed for life in Libya for infecting children with the AIDS virus, were freed and flown to Bulgaria yesterday, after the European Union struck a deal to improve ties with Tripoli.

The five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian doctor, who have always denied the charges against them and say their confessions were extracted under torture, were pardoned on arrival in Sofia by Parvanov.

They were met at the airport by tearful relatives who had lobbied for their release throughout their eight-year ordeal, during which they spent three years on death row awaiting execution.