A Libyan court sentenced five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor to death on Tuesday for deliberately infecting hundreds of children with the virus that causes
AIDS, provoking a chorus of Western condemnation.

The ruling, the latest episode in what experts say has been a deeply politicized case, could be a setback for Libya's efforts to improve ties with the West.

The children's families at the trial hailed the ruling as a welcome act of defiance of the West.

"Justice has been done. We are happy," said Subhy Abdullah, whose daughter Mona, 7, died from AIDS contracted at the hospital in the town of Benghazi where the medics worked.