SOFIA, Dec 23: Bulgaria and Libya have agreed to set up a fund for families of Libyan children with HIV as part of efforts to spare the lives of five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death for infecting youngsters with the virus.

The United States, Britain and the European Commission have also signed up to the fund, Bulgaria’s foreign ministry said on Friday, as the international community seeks to resolve a crisis dating back to 1999.

Libya has sentenced five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor to death by firing squad for infecting 426 children with HIV in a hospital in the Mediterranean port of Benghazi. About 50 of the infected children have died.

Bulgaria, the European Union and the United States have all denounced the verdicts and the case has become a hurdle to Libya’s attempts to end its international isolation.

“The international fund will be set up to support the families as part of international efforts to find a solution acceptable to all parties following the tragic HIV outbreak in Benghazi,” the foreign ministry said.—Reuters