WASHINGTON, Aug. 5  -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is vacationing in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, defended on Sunday his actions in helping secure the release of six foreign medics who had been held prisoner in Libya for eight years.

       There were no political trade-off between an arms sale to Libya and the return of the six medical workers - five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who had been accused of infecting hundreds of Libyan children with the HIV virus, Sarkozy told reporters.

       "The contract wasn't linked to the nurses' liberation," Sarkozy said, noting the arms deal was the product of 18 months of negotiations between Libya and the European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. NV.

       Sarkozy made remarks as France's Socialist opposition has demanded it know whether the conservative Sarkozy offered up the weapons contract to convince Libya to free six medics serving life sentences there.

       The arms deal, reportedly valued at 405 million dollars, was announced soon after the medics flew home to Bulgaria on a French presidential plane.

       The six foreign medics flew out of the Libyan capital Tripoli on July 24 in the company of French first lady Cecilia Sarkozy. A day later, Sarkozy arrived in Libya on a visit to normalize ties, having signed with Libyan officials a host of defense, nuclear and humanitarian accords. The arms deal was announced about a week later.