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Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A British lawyer will represent Switzerland in the independent tribunal that will look into the detention in Geneva in 2008 of Hannibal Qaddafi, son of Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi, and his wife.

The Swiss Federal Council has designated Elizabeth Wilmshurst as its third party judge to participate in the tribunal.

Wilmshurst has been a lecturer at the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House in London since 2003.

The Swiss government says she has a “wealth of experience as an expert on international law and negotiations [which] is not least due to her many years of activity in the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office, where she carried out many important functions. In particular, she served as Deputy Legal Advisor in the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office from 1999 to 2003.”

As part of the Swiss-Libya agreement, two people from third countries are to be named to the tribunal, with Switzerland and Libya each naming one. The two designated individuals will then jointly agree on a third participant who will act as the president of the three-member panel. They will meet in London.

The announcement comes after the Swiss government said on Friday 28 August that it is implementing every detail of its agreement with Libya as rapidly as possible to ensure the safe return of two businessmen held in Libya since July 2008.

A Swiss military plane returned without the hostages from Libya and carrying only their suitcases.

[Ed Note: The Chatham House monthly magazine includes an article on Moammar Qaddafi, "the longest-serving leader in the Arab and African worlds." According to the article, "Libya is buying its way back into the international arena, protected by the politics of oil."]

Follow the development of the Swiss-Libya political crisis on GenevaLunch.

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