Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss government has suspended its 20 August 2009 agreement with Libya designed to improve relations and is restricting visas issued to Libyans. The Federal Council (cabinet) noted in a press release Wednesday 4 November that Tripoli has refused all collaboration and that “the two Swiss citizens, who were taken in violation of international law, are still being held in an unknown area. The Libyan authorities refuse to allow anyone to visit them.”
Bern, Switzerland/New York, NY, USA (GenevaLunch) – Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz and Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffi met in New York on the fringes of the UN General Assembly, to discuss the fate of the two Swiss businessmen who have been detained in Libya since July 2008. Qadaffi, the Swiss foriegn affairs ministry says in a Thursday noon, 24 September press release, is taking up their cause himself: “The Leader of the Revolution assured President Merz that he would commit himself personally to bringing about their release.”
The men were widely understood in Switzerland to be able to return to the country by the end of August 2009, but Libya has to date not released them, claiming administrative delays.
Libya Wednesday 23 September dropped its civil case against Geneva, pending the outcome of a three-person international arbitration tribunal. The tribunal is reviewing charges by Libya related to the arrest of Hannibal Qadaffi and his wife Aline in July 2008, at a hotel in Geneva.
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.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The curious and much-publicized case of the Swiss president apparently deciding unilaterally to apologize to Libya’s leader Mouammar Qadaffi over the arrest of the latter’s son in Geneva in July 2008 is taking another turn. TSR television reports that a Swiss government airplane has left Bern for Libya, possibly to pick up two Swiss men who have been held hostage there for more than a year.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Mouammar Qadaffi, Libya’s leader, is out to “take apart” Switzerland, Swiss public radio and television are reporting today. The result will be to make it far more difficult for a meeting between the leaders of the two countries to take place. Two Swiss men have been detained by Libya for a year, following an incident where Qadaffi’s son Hannibal was arrested in Geneva, 15 July 2008.
