A Libyan court for national security cases has dropped conspiracy charges against six Bulgarians and a Palestinian accused of deliberately infecting Libyan children with the virus that causes AIDS.

The People's Court in Tripoli said Sunday it was sending the case back to the prosecutor's office because there was not enough evidence the case involves national security. The court said the matter should be decided in a criminal court.

The case involves five Bulgarian nurses and one doctor, who along with a Palestinian doctor were working at a pediatric hospital in the northern Libyan city of Benghazi. The seven were arrested three years ago and charged with intentionally injecting 393 Libyan children with HIV contaminated blood. Some of the children have since died.

The defendants -- who maintain their innocence -- have been on trial for two years.

A verdict in the lengthy trial had been delayed twice before Sunday's ruling. Nine Libyans face charges of neglect in the case. The seven foreigners were in prison for three years before they were moved to house arrest two weeks ago.

Bulgarian President Gueorgui Parvanov lauded the Libyan court's decision as a goodwill gesture to uncover the truth in a difficult case. He attributed the ruling to involvement by Seif-el-Islam Gadhafi, the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi, who has monitored the trial at Bulgaria's request.

Prosecutors have not said when a new trial will begin in a lower court, or whether murder will be among the charges the foreign medical workers will face.

Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.

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