The Swiss foreign ministry has formally complained to Libya to protest against retaliatory measures following the arrest last week in Geneva of Moammar Gaddafi's son.
The foreign ministry said since last Thursday Gaddafi's government has detained Swiss citizens in Libya, demanded the closure of Swiss firms present in the country and recalled its diplomatic representatives to Switzerland.
Libya has also stopped processing visa requests from Swiss and on Wednesday, announced that the airline, Swiss, would have to reduce its flights to Tripoli from three to one a week.
Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey protested against the moves in a telephone call with her Libyan counterpart on Tuesday. A Swiss delegation is expected to hold talks in Tripoli later on Wednesday with the Libyan authorities.
The moves against Swiss interests came a week after Hannibal" Gaddafi was arrested with his wife, Aline, at a Geneva five-star hotel last week and spent two nights in a court cell.
The couple, who were released on bail and have reportedly left the country, were charged by a magistrate with inflicting physical injuries and using threats and force against two of their staff, who lodged a formal complaint.
Source: SwissInfo (English)
See also: Geneva: Kadhafi's son arrested for assaulting hotel staff, Netherlands: Pressure on freed doctor not to lodge complaint against Libya, Switzerland: Hospital suspends Libyan program
The foreign ministry said since last Thursday Gaddafi's government has detained Swiss citizens in Libya, demanded the closure of Swiss firms present in the country and recalled its diplomatic representatives to Switzerland.
Libya has also stopped processing visa requests from Swiss and on Wednesday, announced that the airline, Swiss, would have to reduce its flights to Tripoli from three to one a week.
Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey protested against the moves in a telephone call with her Libyan counterpart on Tuesday. A Swiss delegation is expected to hold talks in Tripoli later on Wednesday with the Libyan authorities.
The moves against Swiss interests came a week after Hannibal" Gaddafi was arrested with his wife, Aline, at a Geneva five-star hotel last week and spent two nights in a court cell.
The couple, who were released on bail and have reportedly left the country, were charged by a magistrate with inflicting physical injuries and using threats and force against two of their staff, who lodged a formal complaint.
Source: SwissInfo (English)
See also: Geneva: Kadhafi's son arrested for assaulting hotel staff, Netherlands: Pressure on freed doctor not to lodge complaint against Libya, Switzerland: Hospital suspends Libyan program
2 comments:
I think Libya is needed to act in some wise manner in this matter.
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Do the Swiss have a military? Yes, that's a serious question. They should get the detainees and wash their hands of those losers, as if sanctions by Libya mean anything to the Swiss other than getting their people back. Who knew that Swiss people were applying for Libyan visas? I think that's a fabrication. One would have to be clinically insane to move from Switzerland to Libya. Seriously.
I just read the "Switzerland: Hospital suspends Libyan program" post from last year. Typical Musim "medicine" and approach to "personal agency" and "responsibility for one's own actions [the parents in this case]." Sounds like Switzerland has its own sanctions against Libya anyway.
Why do civilized nations do business with them? They have enough oil to keep selling for two more years and they're done. We should just close this ugly chapter on Libyan dealings in our history already. But not before we pick a way to spell "Khaddafi" and run with it.
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