Libya, Switzerland end their diplomatic dispute
Source: Agencies |
June 14, 2010, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
LIBYA and Switzerland have agreed to draw a line under their fierce diplomatic dispute and the Swiss businessman whose detention was at the center of the row can go home, the Swiss foreign minister said yesterday.
The agreement was announced after Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey flew to Tripoli in the hope she could bring home Max Goeldi, who has been stranded in the North African country for nearly two years.
"Max Goeldi will leave the country today," she told reporters in the Libyan capital. "Goeldi will return to Switzerland and this is the start of the normalization of relations between the two countries."
Goeldi was barred from leaving Libya in July 2008, days after Swiss police arrested Hannibal Gaddafi, a son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, on charges, later dropped, of abusing two domestic employees.
The row sucked in the European Union and the United States. European countries are anxious to restore friendly relations with oil exporter Libya because they want to safeguard business ties.
Calmy-Rey said Switzerland had apologized for the publication of photos of Hannibal Gaddafi after hi arrest in Geneva in July 2008.
The Swiss foreign minister was speaking after hours of talks that ended in the signing of an agreement on relations with her Libyan opposite number, Moussa Koussa.
Libyan officials deny any link between the two cases but supporters of Goeldi, who works for engineering firm ABB, have said they believe he was caught up in the diplomatic fallout from Hannibal Gaddafi's arrest.
Goeldi was released from a Libyan prison last week where he had been serving a four-month sentence for violating immigration rules. Before he was jailed he had not been held in detention but was unable to move freely or leave the country.
Libya reacted to Hannibal Gaddafi's arrest at a luxury lakeside hotel in Geneva by stopping oil exports to Switzerland and withdrawing assets from Swiss banks.
Muammar Gaddafi declared a "jihad" on Switzerland, although his officials said he had meant a trade embargo, not a holy war.
The agreement was announced after Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey flew to Tripoli in the hope she could bring home Max Goeldi, who has been stranded in the North African country for nearly two years.
"Max Goeldi will leave the country today," she told reporters in the Libyan capital. "Goeldi will return to Switzerland and this is the start of the normalization of relations between the two countries."
Goeldi was barred from leaving Libya in July 2008, days after Swiss police arrested Hannibal Gaddafi, a son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, on charges, later dropped, of abusing two domestic employees.
The row sucked in the European Union and the United States. European countries are anxious to restore friendly relations with oil exporter Libya because they want to safeguard business ties.
Calmy-Rey said Switzerland had apologized for the publication of photos of Hannibal Gaddafi after hi arrest in Geneva in July 2008.
The Swiss foreign minister was speaking after hours of talks that ended in the signing of an agreement on relations with her Libyan opposite number, Moussa Koussa.
Libyan officials deny any link between the two cases but supporters of Goeldi, who works for engineering firm ABB, have said they believe he was caught up in the diplomatic fallout from Hannibal Gaddafi's arrest.
Goeldi was released from a Libyan prison last week where he had been serving a four-month sentence for violating immigration rules. Before he was jailed he had not been held in detention but was unable to move freely or leave the country.
Libya reacted to Hannibal Gaddafi's arrest at a luxury lakeside hotel in Geneva by stopping oil exports to Switzerland and withdrawing assets from Swiss banks.
Muammar Gaddafi declared a "jihad" on Switzerland, although his officials said he had meant a trade embargo, not a holy war.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
