Nursing home

After eight and half years in a Libyan prison for allegedly infecting children with HIV, a charge that appeared preposterous from the start, five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor were pardoned and freed on Bulgarian soil. This after their death sentences had been commuted by the Libyan Supreme Court. Good news, indeed.

This is especially interesting after reading about how EU officials were "rattling" over wife of the new French president, Cécilia Sarkozy's involvement in the process, claiming that she would cause untold diplomatic damage to the delicate process. Apparently not, as the issue has been resolved in what must be considered lightening swift diplomatic time. Sarkozy accompanied the medical workers on their trip home, which no doubt further bristled EU diplomats.

I'll later get to why all this good will between the EU, the US and Libya is springing up out of the Saharan sand. But let's just note for now the reality that Libya borders the Sudan and also sits on a proven 39 billion barrels of oil, with an expected potential for as much as 100+ billion bbls and much of the country still unexplored. Why, only last fall, US oil companies, including ExxonMobil, BP and Chevron, were flocking to Libya in a mad rush for drilling rights, competing with 44 other petroleum corporations from around the world.

Nonetheless, I'm glad to see the nurses and doctor freed from their dreadful situation.