Libya’s Supreme Court confirmed the death sentences of the six Bulgarian medics accused of deliberate HIV infection of more than 400 children in a hospital in Benghazi.

It took the court only two minutes to announce that it was rejecting the appeal by the medics against the death sentences pronounced in December 2006, Bulgarian news agency BTA said.

The medics were also ordered to pay compensation to the families of the infected children.

In addition to the death sentences, each of the five nurses was sentenced to three years in prison for illegal sexual contacts. They also were given an additional three to four years in prison for production and consumption of alcohol.

The court’s decision was final, Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) said.

Bulgaria’s only official option remaining is to ask Libya’s Supreme Judicial Council to reprieve the nurses.

The Libyan attorney for the medics, Osman Bizanti, said that he was still optimistic about the final outcome of the trial.

Meanwhile, a representative of the association of the families of the infected children rejected an earlier statement by the Gaddaffi Foundation that the families had agreed to accept compensation in return for the release of the medics.

BTA quoted the head of the association, Idris Laga, as saying that an agreement would be reached within a couple of days, opening the way for the Supreme Judicial Council to mitigate the sentences.

The medics were arrested in 1999 and have been in custody, undergoing various court procedures ever since. On May 6 2004, they were sentenced to death. Later, the supreme court ordered a re-trial, but in December 2006 a court confirmed the death sentences.

Bulgaria and the international community have rejected the courts’ pronouncements of guilt. International AIDS experts studied the case and concluded that the infection began before the arrival of the medics to the hospital and in fact were the result of poor hygiene.

The Gaddaffi Foundation, headed by one of the sons of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddaffi, launched negotiations with the families of the infected children on compensation.

In June 2007 Bulgaria awarded citizenship to the Palestinian doctor. This was interpreted as enabling him to benefit from any deal involving the Bulgarian Government, including possible agreement on the medics serving jail time in Bulgaria instead of Libya.