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Libya Admits to Torturing Medics

By Neal Colgrass, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 10, 2007 5:07 AM CDT

(Newser) – Moammar Gadhafi's son burnished his pro-Western image yesterday by admitting that Libya had tortured 5 nurses and a doctor once accused of spreading HIV among children, the AP reports. Seif al-Islam Gadhafi conceded that the "Benghazi six" were electrocuted and threatened after their 1999 imprisonment, but he did not apologize, and even accused one of exaggerating the torture he endured.

Reactions among the medics were mixed, one saying that the 36-year-old Gadhafi “always tells only a part of the truth, manipulating the media" while a nurse thanked him for finally coming clean about the case. Analysts say the young Gadhafi is attempting to build inroads with European leaders as part of a plan for economic liberalization, but it's not clear how much power he really wields.

[Images (6)]

[Videos (1)]

Bulgarian doctor Zdravko Georgiev, left, his wife the nurse Kristiana Valcheva second left, Palestinian doctor Ashraf al- Hazouz, center, the nurses Valia Georgieva Chervenisahka, second right, and Nasya... (Associated Press)

Palestinian-born Bulgarian doctor Ashraf al- Hazouz, center, speaks to journalists surrouned by his parents in the Bulgarian Government's residency of Boyana in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, Thursday,... (Associated Press)

Palestinian-born Bulgarian doctor Ashraf al- Hazouz, behind right, hugs his mother during a news conference in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, Wednesday, July, 25, 2007. Five Bulgarian nurses and a doctor... (Associated Press)

Kristiana Valcheva, left, Nasya Nenova, third right, and Palestinian-born Bulgarian doctor Ashraf al- Hazouz, second right, attend during a mass in Alexander Nevski cathedral in the Bulgarian capital... (Associated Press)

Palestinian-born doctor Ashraf al- Hazouz waves in front of the French presidential air plane after he and five Bulgarian nurses arrived in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, Tuesday, July, 24, 2007. All were... (Associated Press)

ntaminating children with the AIDS virus. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova) (Associated Press)

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Bulgaria presses for extradition of its jailed medics (StefanSchmiederer (YouTube))

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