RP asks Libya to return nurses

RP asks Libya to return nurses

MANILA (AP): The Philippines has asked Libya to allow the return of 42 Filipino nurses being kept in the country on suspicion of spreading the virus that causes AIDS, officials said on Thursday.

The nurses were prevented from leaving by Libyan authorities who allegedly suspect they are among foreign medical workers who may have spread HIV in the Al-Fateh Children's Hospital in Benghazi, a port in northeast Libya, said Mukhtar Muallam, Manila's envoy to Tripoli.

Foreign Undersecretary Benjamin Domingo said the department is "on top of the situation" and Filipino diplomats are "negotiating for the repatriation" of the nurses with Libyan authorities.

"Libyan authorities wanted to know whether or not the HIV contamination was a deliberate attempt by a foreign power to sabotage the country," Muallam said in a report to Manila. He said the Libyans suspect nurses from Poland, Rumania and Bulgaria were also involved.