The six Bulgarians and one Palestinian - all doctors and nurses - face the death penalty if convicted of murder and conspiracy. They are accused of injecting the children with HIV-contaminated blood, but it was unclear if all those allegedly infected have died.
"The court decided to continue studying the rebuttals presented by the defense lawyers due to the size and importance of the case,'' the head of the three-judge panel said, according to Othman el-Bezanti, the lawyer defending the Bulgarians.
A verdict is expected at the next hearing, set for Dec. 22, el-Bezanti told the Associated Press by telephone from
The delay ``shows that there is no firm evidence about the guilt of our
citizens,'' said Elene Poptodorova,
spokeswoman for the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry in
"The postponement gives hope that the time until Dec. 22 will be used to review all the facts,'' Poptodorova 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 ... pretrial proceedings.''
The court has refused to allow expert opinion from
El-Bezanti said that in explaining the reasons to postpone the verdict, the judges said "the court is keen on making sure defendants get all the guarantees Libyan laws ensure.''
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has claimed that the CIA or the Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency, were ultimately behind the children's' illnesses.
Critics charge that
Libya could also be trying to make Bulgaria forgive it its debts, estimated at $300 million, some say.
The case of the allegedly infected children was first brought to light in
1998 by the Libyan magazine La in the coastal city of
Besides the murder and conspiracy counts, the Bulgarians are charged with
drinking in public - alcohol is banned in
Nine Libyans charged in the same case are out on bail.