LIBYA'S Supreme Court upheld death sentences yesterday against six foreign medical personnel for allegedly infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV.
But officials said they could win a reprieve by as early as next week.
Libya's Foreign Minister, Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Shalgam, said the Government-controlled High Judicial Council, which has the power to commute the sentence or even pardon the five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor, will consider the case on Monday.
The European Union and Bulgarian leaders have expressed regret at the ruling, the latest twist in the highly politicised trial, but said a solution may still be reached.
There have been lengthy efforts to secure a deal with families of the children.
"The court rejects the appeals of the defendants and confirms the death penalty," judge Fathi Dhan told a five-minute hearing. The six people were not in court to hear his ruling.
They were sentenced to death in December after being convicted of infecting 426 Libyan children with the deadly virus while they worked at the children's hospital in Benghazi in the 1990s.
In jail since 1999, they say they are innocent and were tortured to make them confess. Some Western scientists say negligence and poor hospital hygiene were the real culprits and that the six were made scapegoats.
Bulgaria's President, Georgi Parvanov, said the decision was no surprise. "We expect and insist (on) a swift solution by Libya's High Judicial Council to finally complete the case," Mr Parvanov said.
The case has blocked Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's efforts to deepen links with the West after shaking off decades of isolation in 2003 when Libya scrapped a prohibited weapons program.
Hopes were raised for a deal to win their release on Tuesday evening when Libya's Gaddafi Foundation charity said it had reached an accord with the children's families that "puts an end to the crisis".
Libyan officials say the judicial council would only agree to the release of the six people if a settlement were reached in private talks between the families and the EU on funding for the children's medical care.
Behind-the-scenes talks have been taking place between the EU and the association of the families of the children on just such a possible deal  to provide a fund of tens of millions of dollars for the families to pay for the children's future care.
Libya calls the cash "compensation"  a term Bulgaria rejects as it says it implies the people are guilty.
The charity, run by a son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam, has been a central player in facilitating the talks.
The sister-in-law of one of the nurses, Tsvetanka Siropoulu, said the case was always likely to be resolved out of court. "It was clear from the very beginning that this fabricated trial will not have a judicial solution but a political one," she said.
REUTERS
The Association "Freedom for the Bulgarian Nurses" uses this symbol to represent the cause of the Bulgarian nurses. It represents a ribbon with the colours of the Bulgarian flag, with the words "You are not alone" in Bulgarian and English.

The Supreme Court in Libya has upheld the death sentence for five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian medical intern condemned for infecting 426 children with HIV. Just one day ago, a deal to free the foreign medics was announced.

The six defendants were not present at the court ruling, while family members of the children rejoiced when the judge confirmed the verdict. "This is a victory for the Libyan judiciary system. We are awaiting the execution of the death sentence," said Al-Monseif Khalifa, a lawyer for the plaintives.

E.U. Commission President  remains hopeful that the medics will receive clemency. "We regret that these decisions have been made, but I also want to express my confidence that a solution will be found," Barroso told the . 

  called for a quick solution. He said the verdict came as no surprise, and expressed his hope for a swift final solution. The case will now move to the Supreme Judiciary Council which will hear the case on Monday, according to Libya's Foreign Minister, Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Shalgam. The Council is headed by the Justice Minister of Libya.

Late Tuesday, the Gaddafi Foundation, a non-profit run by the son of Libya's ''de facto'' leader Muammar al-Gaddafi, said a deal had been reached to free the health workers. The head of the Association for the Families of the HIV-Infected Children, Idriss Lagha, also said announced that a deal could be reached soon.

After the verdict today, Salah Abdessalem, a spokesman for the Gadhafi International Foundation for Charity Associations, reconfirmed to the ''Associated Press'' that a settlement to free the detainees still exists, which he said was acceptable to all parties and would end the crisis, without giving further details. 

Unnamed officials who wished to remain anonymous disclosed the deal would involve financial compensation in exchange for the death sentences being commuted to a prison sentence, according to the Associated Press. E.U. officials say the European Union would agree to establish a fund of tens of millions of dollars to pay for the children's future medical care. Bulgaria and the European Union are calling it humanitarian aid instead of compensation, which would imply that their citizens would be guilty.

The convicted nurses and medical intern began working in the El-Fath Children's Hospital in Benghazi in 1998, and were arrested and jailed one year later when over 400 children were found to be infected with HIV -over 50 have died since. They were sentenced to death in 2004, and again after a retrial last December which came after an international outcry about the affair.

A scientific report by professors  (one of the original discoverers of the virus causing AIDS) and  used as evidence for the defence in the case said that the virus causing AIDS was widely spread in the hospital before the health workers even arrived, and that the infections were due to negligence and poor hygiene procedures in the Benghazi hospital. The prosecution introduced a report of Libyan scientists saying that this was not the case. The detainees have said that they have been tortured to make confessions.