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Books on Libya
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Update No: 043 - (29/05/07)
Blood Money for the Aids Case
After seven years, the ordeal of five Bulgarian nurses (and one Palestinian
medical doctor), who have been in a Libyan prison, accused of deliberately
infecting 400 children with AIDS in a Benghazi hospital in 1999 could end soon.
The European Union and the infected children's families are said to be close to
reaching a deal that would eliminate the death penalty (which they have been
handed last January) outright a punitive measure, giving room for the Libyan
leader to grant a full pardon. It is unlikely, that Col. Qadhafi, however, will
recognize, publicly, that the medics are innocent, as many medical experts and
journals have indicated. As we have long maintained, the problem of obtaining
release has been one of compensation. Any admission of responsibility for the
negligence in the Libyan healthcare system would have exacerbated political
problems in Benghazi. After seven years of reticence in the matter, simply
giving up on the case, and any related gains, would also have sent an image of
subservience to Western influence to some of the more revolutionary members of
the Libyan system and indeed anti-western elements in the larger Arab world. Not
surprisingly, then, the resolution to the AIDS case is now possible as the EU
and Libya have reached an agreement, which is nothing short of the equivalent of
blood money. The medics are awaiting a final verdict on their appeal against the
death penalty. The hearing was expected at the beginning of May but has been
delayed to a date yet to be determined - which some sources believe to be a sign
that a solution is near.
The conditions now exist that the Libyan Supreme Court, which must rule on the
fate of the accused, will be able to consider that the 'diya' (blood money) has
been paid. Libya has never disguised the fact that the right price would secure
the release of the medics. Under the deal, the surviving infected children shall
receive the best available medical care at international institutions for the
entire duration of their lives, while their families shall also be financially
compensated. The families had been demanding a compensation of EUR 10 million
per child, but European officials working on the case (or 'deal') suggest the
final amount could be significantly lower. The European Commission announced 120
Million Euro have been collected for the infected children to be deposited in a
related 'international fund'. That was also confirmed by the European
Commissioner of International affairs and Austrian Minister of foreign affairs
Benita Ferrero-Waldner. The international fund was created on the initiative of
the EU and USA. In December Qadhafi complained that the fund was empty, accusing
the organizers of lying. However, Geoffrey Van Orden- the European Parliament's
rapporteur for Bulgaria stated that the money for the international fund would
only be released after Libya releases the nurses and the Palestinian Doctor.
The Qadhafi Foundation, headed by Saif ul-Islam al-Qadhafi (son of the
leader) has been closely involved in negotiations to resolve the issue. While
the Foundation was very likely involved in stalling harsher solutions from the
Libyan side - as Saif acknowledged that the Libyan healthcare sector needs an
overhaul in private interviews outside Libya - it is sending signals that the
financial compensation shall have to be matched by a commitment by the EU to
take care of the surviving children in its own facilities. Indeed, the EU has
already started to treat some of the children in its medical facilities.
Nevertheless, there is another hurdle for the medics, who face a separate and
grotesque trial on charges of having defamed three police officers, accusing
(falsely according to the prosecution) them of torture. The implication of this
being that the nurses freely admitted to the mass murder of the children in
their care by deliberately injecting them with AIDS, as distinct from the
accounts they actually gave of how they were tortured until they signed
confessions.
The medics face up to six years in prison for telling about that, and inevitably
the opportunistic plaintiffs demand more millions in compensation for their
'distress' at being accused of torture. This additional trial all but ensures
that a pardon from the Libyan leader will be needed to finally secure the
medics' release. The defamation case is not bound by social customs of diya, and
the Libyan leader would find it easier to grant a pardon in such a case. Another
optimistic sign is that Libya has recently asked for France's assistance in
closing the 'Bulgarian Nurses Affair'. France's new president Nicolas Sarkozy,
had indicated his concern over the Bulgarian nurses trial during the elections
campaign, describing it as 'outrageous'. He cited the case in his first official
speech as France's president, saying that France had a duty to support the five
Bulgarian nurses facing a death penalty trial in Libya. The French newspaper Le
Journal du Dimanche reported that Libyan officials spoke to French officials
close to Sarkozy, to discuss the Bulgarian nurses' trial.
New Risk of Islamist Violence
The Maghreb countries, while rich in natural resources and tourism
potential, also continue to endure obstacles to economic development and
poverty, exacerbated by the limited employment opportunities for the growing
number of young people reaching employment age. The recent series of attacks in
Morocco and Algeria, where a French oil company worker was also killed, by
apparent salafist groups has raised security concerns in the region. Libya,
which has endured relatively lower islamist activity than its neighbours, is not
immune to the social ills that affect t the region as a whole. It has been able
to overcome some of the consequences of neglect through the distributive
largesse afforded by the oil wealth and low population. However, in May,
Algerian security forces arrested three Libyan Islamic militants, said to be
intentioned on joining the alleged North African branch of 'al-Qaeda' North
African wing. Local sources said that the three militants were heading to
strongholds of the Algeria-based al Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb.
The Libyan militants, aged between 22 and 25, had been "recruited in Libya
by extremist networks with international ramifications" said sources.
The group 'al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, also known as the Salafist Group for
Preaching and Combat, or GSPC, was the same that claimed responsibility for
triple suicide bombings that killed 33 people in Algiers on April 11. It appears
that the group is recruiting members throughout the region to prepare them for
various Attacks. The arrest of three Libyans suggests that Libya is also an
intended target. This could raise security concerns for the many foreign oil
companies in Libya; such installations are prime target areas in view of their
international visibility. The GSPC murdered the French oil company worker in
Algeria, claiming that France had been stealing Algeria's oil wealth. While
Algeria has witnessed considerably more violence than its neighbours implying
that the GSPC is not necessarily connected to organizations that have conducted
similarly timed bombings last April in Morocco, their activity is a sign that
even Libya faces growing vulnerability to islamist violence. Indeed, in May, the
world was briefly stunned by headlines suggesting that the Libyan leader was in
a coma. A Palestinian news agency, Ma'an, quoted an unnamed European source as
saying that Qadhafi had suffered a brain clot on Sunday and was taken to
hospital. The leader disproved the news, appearing on television in apparent
good health, and claiming that the rumours were spread by "the Arabs and
their masters." Oddly, the ill health rumours (which if true would have
caused a real crisis in Libya given the absence of any formal method for
political succession) were spread as if to coincide with the first anniversary
of Washington's announcement that it would remove Libya from the list of
terrorism sponsoring states. While there is no evidence to suggest the move was
an attempt to fuel trouble, it is an incident which suggests growing internal
and external pressure on the Libyan leadership, which struggles to balance the
appearance of defying the West, while maintaining respectability to attract
foreign investment in oil exploration and refining, as well as other business
areas. The incident gives a sense that we can expect similar surprises in the
next few months.
Oil News
Norwegian oil company Statoil is preparing to shoot seismic. During the
year, around 2,000 kilometres of 2D seismic will be gathered from the Kufra
license in the south-east of the country. This is the first time Statoil is
shooting seismic in the country.
Statoil won two land-based licenses to operate in an attractive oil producing
region of Libya in the autumn of 2005. Statoil is to work with British Gas in
Kufra 171 with a 50% share each. The companies have committed themselves to
gathering the 2,000 kilometres of 2D seismic and to drilling two exploration
wells in the license. During the second half of 2008, Statoil will drill the
first exploration wells in Libya. Statoil started Libyan operations in 2005.
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