However, Nicolas Sarkozy said his wife Cecilia, who had also played a big part in the release of the medics, did not go to Bulgaria because of controversy stirred up by the matter in France and internationally.
The Bulgarian medics had received the death sentence for infecting Libyan children with HIV, and they had spent nearly nine years in a Libyan jail, although they maintained their innocence until their release came.
The matter had been made more controversial because the day after the release of the Bulgarian medics, President Sarkozy had travelled to Tripoli to sign major trade agreements with the Libyan government.
