Libya ? A settlement has been reached to resolve the crisis over five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death in Libya for allegedly infecting more than 400 children with the AIDS virus, a foundation headed by the Libyan leader’s son said Tuesday.

Foundation spokesman Salah Abdessalem did not say how the deal reached with families of the HIV-infected children would affect the case against the six foreign medical workers. The announcement came a day before Libya’s Supreme Court was to rule on an appeal of their sentence, which caused an international outcry and a diplomatic crisis with Bulgaria and the European Union.

The spokesman did not say whether the settlement involved financial compensation for the families, but there have been rumors for days in Libya that such an agreement was imminent.

Details are to be announced today.