Bulgaria and the EU have called on Libya to transfer six foreign medical workers to Europe.
The five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor, who have spent over eight years in jail already, could be pardoned by Bulgaria's president if they are sent to Sofia under a 1984 prisoner exchange agreement with Libya.
Following diplomatic negotiations and payment of $1m to each of the families of 460 HIV victims, the death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment last night, paving the way for their release.
Bulgaria and its allies in Washington and Brussels, who say the medical workers are innocent, have pushed Tripoli for their release.
The six were sentenced to death last year after being convicted of intentionally starting an HIV epidemic at a children's hospital in the Mediterranean port of Benghazi.
The workers say they are innocent and claim confessions central to their case were extracted under torture.
Foreign HIV experts testified during the case in Libya that the infections started before the six arrived at the hospital and were more likely to be the result of poor hygiene.
Last month, Bulgaria granted citizenship to the Palestinian doctor to help bring him out of Libya if the death penalties were commuted.
