Libyan judges put off the verdict in the case of six Bulgarians accused of injecting 393 children with the AIDS virus, saying on Saturday that they needed more time to study defence arguments. The six Bulgarians and one Palestinian - all doctors and nurses - face the death penalty if convicted of murder and conspiracy.

"The court decided to continue studying the rebuttals presented by the defence lawyers due to the size and importance of the case," the head of the three-judge panel said, according to Osman Bizanti, one of the lawyers defending the Bulgarians. The verdict is expected at the next hearing, set for December 22.

The delay "shows that there is no firm evidence about the guilt of our citizens," said Elena Poptodorova, spokesperson for the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry. "The postponement gives hope that the time until December 22 will be used to review all the facts," she said.

Held since February 1999, the defendants have pleaded innocent. Some have complained that their interrogators forced false confessions from them using torture. The high-profile case has prompted protests from human rights groups, with Amnesty International saying "there have been serious irregularities in... pre-trial proceedings."

Bulgaria has accused Libya of holding a political trial against its nationals and has repeatedly called for an independent team of international experts to study the case and testify. The court, however, refused to allow expert opinion from Switzerland and France.

The Bulgarian lawyer, Vladimir Sheitanov, who also acts for the defence, said the postponement of the verdict does nothing to ease the condition of the Bulgarians. He requested the full text of the court ruling and applied for visits to the defendants' quarters for himself and for their relatives who were in Tripoli.

For the first time, staff members of Western embassies in Libya attended the hearing. Sitting in the courtroom next to Bulgarian ambassador Lyudmil Spassov were the ambassadors of Belgium (the country, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union) and Spain (the next to take over the EU presidency) as well as diplomats from the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Canada and Austria. The Palestinian ambassador to Libya was also present.

The Belgian ambassador to Libya, Henry Lobert, said later the ambassadors were monitoring the observation of human rights during the proceedings. "Although officials from EU countries did not attend the previous hearings, the authorities of these countries have been following the entire course of the trial," Lobert said.