A connection between the trial of the five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death for HIV infection in Libya and the Lockerbie bombing cannot be established, US ambassador to Bulgaria John Beyrle said.

Beyrle met on January 16 Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin to discuss the trial, Bulgarian National Radio reported. This week Libyan media reported that the nurses might be freed, if the Libyan imprisoned for the Lockerbie bombing returned home.

As a good partner of Bulgaria, the US was going to do everything possible to guarantee the return of the nurses home, said Beyrle.

Kalfin said that the suggested exchange was unacceptable. Libya's justice system had to evaluate all evidence of the nurses' innocence and tying the outcome of the trial to the Lockerbie case could not be considered an option, said Kalfin.

Another worrying development was the inability of Deputy Justice Minister Margarit Ganev to meet the nurses, Kalfin said. Ganev traveled to Libya but has been denied a prison visit permit.

Ganev was in Libya to discuss with the nurses their defence, Kalfin said. The lawyers of the nurses have one final chance to appeal the death sentences before Libya's Supreme Court.