Libya owes Jordan $140m medical debt

Jordan's Private Hospitals Association said on Thursday Amman is demanding Tripoli pay around 100 million dinars ($140 million) in bills for tens of thousands of Libyans hospitalised in the kingdom. "Jordan wants 100 million dinars from Libya, for treating its nationals in the country's hospitals," Awni Bashir, head of the association, told AFP. "Libya has paid 21 million dinars so far, but the kingdom is still asking for the remaining part." Bashir said that "at one point, the number of Libyan patients in Jordan reached 45,000." "Now, we are treating 12,000 patients in Jordanian hospitals," he said. A Jordanian government official said without elaborating that "Libya has promised to pay the remaining funds by the end of this week." Ali bin Jidyah, head of a society in charge of Libyan patients in Jordan, said that his country will pay 50 percent of claims for the hospitals in "the coming few days." "In the coming few days, around 50 percent of the claims will be paid. We will also pay part of the claims of Jordanian hotels, which received Libyan patients during their stay," bin Jidyah was quoted as saying by state-run Petra news agency. The majority of Libyan patients in Jordan were wounded in the revolt that overthrew Moamer Kadhafi last year. "The situation in Libya following the revolt have delayed the payments, but now things are much better in Libya and all pending issues will be addressed," he said. Bin Jidyah urged Jordan, seen as one of the best medical tourism destination in the region, to help Libya improve its healthcare services. "We hope Jordanian expertise would have a role in boosting our health service, encouraging Libyans to look for medical care inside their country," he said.