Swiss pair to pay fine - Libya

2009-09-01 13:12

Tripoli - Two Swiss businessmen held as part of a spat with Switzerland over the arrest last year of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son must pay a fine before being released, a senior Libyan official said on Monday.

The comments by Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaiym were Libya's first mention of a fine and appeared to pose a roadblock in a diplomatic dispute that had seemed to be nearing a conclusion.

"Libya's general prosecutor visited the two a couple of days ago to make sure they were fine and told them they will go back home as soon as they pay the fine," Kaiym said. He did not disclose the amount.

Swiss-Libyan relations soured after Geneva police briefly detained Hannibal Gaddafi and his wife on July 25, 2008 in a luxury hotel for allegedly beating up two of their servants. The servants later withdrew their complaint after receiving compensation from an undisclosed source.

Force an apology

The incident so enraged Libya that Tripoli cut business and diplomatic ties with the Alpine nation. Four days after the incident Libya also detained two employees of an engineering company ABB Ltd. -  Max Goeldi and Rachid Hamdani - for alleged breaches of immigration rules. Swiss media have described them as "hostages" that Tripoli was using to force an apology from Switzerland.

Earlier this month, Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz flew to Libya, apologised for the Geneva arrest of Hannibal Gaddafi and said he hoped the two countries would restore fractured ties.

Merz also signed an accord with Libya pledging to restore relations and to have Gaddafi's arrest examined by a joint arbitration tribunal in London.

Then, in a vaguely-worded statement last Thursday on Libya's state-owned JANA news agency the Libyan government appeared to clear the way for the businessmen to go home but that has not happened so far.

- AP