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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Sarkozy offers Libya more cooperation

Associated Press The Spokesman-Review

TRIPOLI, Libya – French President Nicolas Sarkozy promised to boost relations with long-isolated Libya as he met with the country’s leader Moammar Gadhafi on Wednesday as a reward for releasing six Bulgarian medical workers.

Libya is hoping for increased cooperation with Europe and the United States after it freed the six, who had been held for more than eight years on charges they infected some 426 children with AIDS in the 1990s.

The medics had twice been sentenced to death for the charges, which were widely denounced abroad as false. Libya commuted their sentences to life in prison and allowed them to fly to Bulgaria on Tuesday, where they received a presidential pardon.

During Sarkozy’s visit, France and Libya signed wide-ranging cooperation agreements in areas including defense, health, the fight against terrorism and civilian nuclear power.

Under a deal sealed by the medics’ release, the European Union agreed to a package of aid for Libya and the prospect of increased trade ties.

In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she hoped to travel to Libya soon. “I know that American companies are very interested in working in Libya,” Rice also said.