1999 Nineteen Bulgarian healthcare workers detained in Benghazi. Accused of conspiring with foreign security services to infect 438 children with HIV, Libya’s first recorded cases. Thirteen are later freed

2000 Trial begins of six remaining Bulgarians and a Palestinian doctor similarly accused

2001 All defendants plead not guilty; allege use of torture

2002 Defendants acquitted of conspiracy; still face charges of causing infection

2003 Aids expert Luc Montagnier testifies that Benghazi Aids outbreak predates arrival of the foreign medics

2004 Five Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian found guilty, sentenced to be shot. Bulgarian doctor acquitted. Defendants appeal

2005 Supreme Court orders retrial

2006 All six again handed death sentences

July 2007 Gaddafi International Foundation for Charity Associations - chaired by the son of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader - announces undisclosed settlement between healthcare workers and affected families. Court later commutes death sentences, saying that families dropped demands for executions. Bulgaria requests they return home to serve sentences

July 22 EU commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Cécilia Sarkozy, wife of the French resident, arrive in Libya

July 24 All six medics released and return to Bulgaria

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