French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has been criticized for intervening in Libya to rescue the five Bulgarian nurses only to claim all the plaudits, has unabashedly highlighted his role in the process.

"If I had not done what I did, the Bulgarian medics would still have been in prison," President Sarkozy said in an interview for Le Nouvel Observateur.

"I would like to recall how state and government leaders from all over the world did not hesitate at all to pay a visit to Tripoli over the last few years - Prodi, Blair, Rice, Chirac... All of them were mumbling about the five nurses at the end of their visits, saying "Please, don't forget the Bulgarian nurses". Only to cover things up for the media not wanting to draw the anger of the Libyan leader."

Sarkozy stressed that the release of the medics was a condition for the visit of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi to France.

The French opposition and a number of intellectuals have criticized the visit of a leader of a country long accused of supporting terrorism and violating human rights.

Qaddafi's trip was historic as he had not visited France since 1973, in the early years of his rule over Libya.

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