The Bulgarian justice minister, Teodosiy Simeonov,...

The Bulgarian justice minister, Teodosiy Simeonov, said that the six Bulgarian medics detained in Libya had been tortured. He said one of the accused, a nurse, had confessed but had later withdrawn her confession, saying it was made under duress. Simeonov added that the transcript of the interrogations was written in Arabic and the Bulgarians were forced to sign them without understanding their content. He also said that during the investigation "there was pressure to convert to Islam." The Libyan government rejected allegations that the Bulgarian medics had been tortured in prison. Following Bulgaria's first public statement of doubt about the fairness of the trial Libya banned Bulgaria's Balkan Airlines from using Libyan airspace and from commercial activities in Libya without any explanation. On July 18, Bulgarian Justice Minister Teodosii Simeonov apologized to Libya over a remark he had made in connection with the pending trial of the six Bulgarian nurses. In a fax to the Libyan authorities, Simeonov said his words "must not be wrongly interpreted as an insult."