2007年VOA标准英语-Released HIV Nurses Receive Heroes' Welcome in

By Stefan Bos
Budapest
24 July 2007

Following long negotiations¹, six foreign medics held in Libya on charges of infecting hundreds of children with the AIDS virus have been released, after the European Union agreed it would work on normalization² of relations with the African country. Stefan Bos reports they received a warm welcome in Bulgaria.

 

Five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor received a hero's welcome as they landed at the airport in Sofia.

 

The Bulgarian nurses and medic pose in front of the French presidential plane after their arrival at the Sofia airport, 24 July 2007

They arrived in Sofia from the Libyan capital, Tripoli, on a French presidential plane. The environment was very different from the prison in Libya where they spend eight long years on charges of deliberately³ infecting hundreds of children with the AIDS virus, as part of an experiment.

 

All have denied the charges, saying the children were infected because of unhygienic circumstances in the hospital, including the sharing of dirty needles. The nurses also said "confessions⁴" cited by prosecutors⁵ as evidence were made under torture.

 

Last week, Libya bowed to international pressure and commuted⁶ the death sentences to terms of life imprisonment⁷. Tuesday in Sofia, that seemed all forgotten, as relatives embraced them and handed out flowers, while Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov awaited the medics with a pardon, setting them free.

 

One of the nurses was overheard saying that she had been living for this moment and that she never accepted the death sentence.

 

French first lady Cecilia Sarkozy (file photo)

The nurses were accompanied by French first lady Cecilia Sarkozy and European Union External Relations Commissioner⁸ Benita Ferrero-Waldner. Before the medics were released, Ferrero-Walder visited some of the 438 children infected with HIV in the hospital in the Libyan town of Benghazi.

 

As she visited the children, she promised the European Union would remain involved in providing medical aid to the children.

 

In Sofia, she told reporters that, although the infected children would not be forgotten, the release of the nurses is a highlight in her diplomatic career.

 

She thanked French first lady Sarkozy for her role in the final moments leading up to the release of the nurses and said "It's a wonderful moment" for the EU and Bulgaria. Ms. Ferrero-Waldner says the release will open a new page in the relationship between the government of Libya and the European Union.

 

The deal that allowed their release did not come cheap. Relatives of the 438 children received about $1 million each, through an EU-supported AIDS fund for medical treatment. The EU will also set up an international medical facility in Libya to help AIDS patients.

 

Jose Manuel Barroso (File photo)

And, European Union Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso admitted to reporters in Brussels the EU also was pressured to normalize relations by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

 

"I have had a very long telephone conversation with Mr. Gadhafi, yesterday," he said. "I ensured him our wish to further normalize the relations between the European Union and Libya. And, I told him that, if this matter was settled, we would do our best to further normalize this relation, because we believe it is in the interest of Libya and it is of course in the interest of Europe and it is also in the general interest of better relations between Europe, [the] Arab and the Islamic world. And also [for] relations between Europe and Africa."

 

Critics have claimed the EU made too many concessions⁹ to Libya, which has been under international sanctions following the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am airliner¹⁰ over the Scottish town, Lockerbie, in which 270 people died.

 

However, European diplomats¹¹ say that winning the release of the nurses and saving their lives was worth it and may eventually mark the beginning of better relations with Libya.

1 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

2 normalization   

n.（normalisation）正常化，标准化

参考例句：

• The visit signalled the normalization of relations between the two countries.这次访问显示两国关系已经正常化。
• He was pleased to the normalization of relationship between the police and the people.他很高兴警方和人民之间关系的正常化。

3 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

4 confessions   

n.承认( confession的名词复数 )；自首；声明；（向神父的）忏悔

参考例句：

• It is strictly forbidden to obtain confessions and to give them credence. 严禁逼供信。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Neither trickery nor coercion is used to secure confessions. 既不诱供也不逼供。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

6 commuted   

通勤( commute的过去式和过去分词 )； 减（刑）； 代偿

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment. 他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• The death sentence may be commuted to life imprisonment. 死刑可能減为无期徒刑。

7 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

8 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

9 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

10 airliner   

n.客机，班机

参考例句：

• The pilot landed the airliner safely.驾驶员使客机安全着陆。
• The passengers were shepherded across the tarmac to the airliner.旅客们被引导走过跑道去上飞机。

11 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》