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Update 19:00  Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Two Swiss men who have been held in Libya and living at the Swiss Embassy in Tripoli since July 2008, and who were expected to fly home Tuesday, are still in Libya. The Swiss government raised its veil of silence late Wednesday 26 August with a statement on the situation, noting that “The Libyan Prime Minister informed the President in writing this morning that it was only a matter of time before the administrative procedures required in Libya were finalised.” The two businessmen have been issued exit visas to leave the country.

The men are now awaiting permission from Libyan judicial authorities to take a plane back to Switzerland. A team from the Swiss president’s office is in Tripoli waiting to accompany them.

Concern has been growing in Switzerland over a contract signed by Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz with Libyan Prime Minister Al Baghdadi A El-Mahmudi 20 August.

It has been unclear if the release of the two men is part of the agreement. Government and cabinet officials are remaining firmly silent, saying only that the Federal Council (cabinet) reviewed the contract signed by Merz and agreed to carry it out. A Federal Council airplane left Tuesday for Tripoli, Libya with a presidential delegation on board.

Politicians and media within Switzerland have been concerned that Merz overstepped legal boundaries by signing the agreement without first clearing it with the cabinet: “The President of the Swiss Confederation is elected for one year and is regarded as Primus inter pares, or first among equals, for this period,” according to the government’s web site. The president rarely acts unilaterally.

The tense relationship with Libya and efforts to bring the hostages home comes at a time when world criticism of Qadaffi is high, over the reception given by him and Libya to the Lockerbie bomber when Britain sent him home for compassionate reasons 20 August.

Trenton, New Jersey officials announced 26 August that they do not want Qadaffi to put up his tent there, on property he owns, when he visits New York for the UN General Assembly in September.

Related: Le Temps, TSR (Fre)