What I forgot to mention is that personally I believe that Qaddafi won't allow the deaths of these nurses unless he totally loses his marbles. They appear to be such a good bargaining tool, don't they? The Colonel is in a rather intricate situation himself - if he allows the death of the nurses, Libya will be largely shut off from international affairs; on the other hand, if he sets them free, he risks popular unrest. He probably chose the best option for himself by simply procrastinating the trial for years to go. In that light, I don't think the problem will be resolved soon unless some radical change in the pressures and attitudes occurs.