Updated 15:55.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - A diplomatic delegation left Bern Wednesday for Tripoli, to try to avert a diplomatic crisis with Libya, sparked by the arrest in Geneva 15 July of Hannibal Qadaffi, son of Libya’s leader. The Swiss government is recommending that Swiss citizens avoid visiting Libya at the moment.
Photo: political storm brewing over Qadaffi son’s arrest in Geneva in mid-July.
According to Bern, the Libyan government has put in place since 17 July a number of "preoccupying retaliatory measures" that include recalling consular officials, refusing visa applications by Swiss citizens and document approvals, as well as reducing the number of flights between the two countries. Two Swiss citizens in Libya have been arrested on "miscellaneous charges," says Bern, and Swiss businesses there have been told to close; some in fact have been forced to close.
The retaliatory measures come in the wake of an incident 15 July at the Hotel President Wilson in Geneva, where Hannibal Qadaffi and his wife were arrested after complaints from hotel staff that he and his wife were abusing their domestic staff during the stay at the hotel. Hannibal Qadaffi was jailed overnight before the two were freed on bail and the Swiss government notes that while the arrest itself is the responsibility of the canton of Geneva, the federal foreign affairs department promptly informed Libyan officials, and have kept them informed since, of the details of the arrest and the circumstances surrounding it.
The Swiss government insists that it does not want to see an escalation of tensions and to that end it has dispatched a diplomatic team to Tripoli. A press conference is scheduled for 17:00 in Bern Wednesday.
Background news story, GenevaLunch, 16 July 2008.
This work by genevalunch.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported.
News story, GenevaLunch, 23 July 2008.
Filed under: Politics, Society, World news
Tags: Lake Geneva region, Politics, Swiss news
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