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Mr. Rudolf Merz, president of the Swiss Confederation,
has traveled to Tripoli to apologize to Libyan Dictator
Muammar al-Gaddafi.
“I express my apologies to the people of Libya for the
unjust detention of Libyan diplomats by the Geneva
police” Merz said in a press conference in Tripoli,
according to the agency ATS.
Gaddafi's son arrested in Geneva
Merz was referring to the following event. On July 15,
2008, Hannibal Gaddafi, who was in Geneva with his wife
awaiting the birth of her second son, was arrested by
police on charges of abuse of two of their employees.
After the dictators’ son spent two nights in prison, he
was released after bail was paid. Since then,
Swiss-Libyan relations have deteriorated.
Libyan Retaliation
In clear retaliation to the arrest of the son of the
dictator in Geneva, (home to the United Nations, where
Libya sits on the Security Council), two Swiss nationals
were detained in Libya (who’s national anthem is “God is
the Greatest”). They are not free to leave the
country.
Breaking new boundaries in the definition of the term
“neutral”, the Swiss government finally has humbled
themselves before the dictator. This was a requirement
set by the Libyan government to restore diplomatic and
economic relations.
Not the first coup, and not the last
This is not the first inconceivable diplomatic coup for
Libya this week. Convicted (albeit without a jury)
international terrorist
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was this week released from
prison, despite being sentenced to a minimum of 27 years
for the murder of 270 people on Pan Am flight 103 above
the Scottish town of Lockerbie on December 21st 1988.
Apparently his suffering of cancer was just too much, he
was this week returned to a welcoming Libya.
But all is not Lost
It was revealed that Switzerland and Libya have agreed
to establish an “independent tribunal” to investigate
the circumstances surrounding the arrest of Hannibal
Gaddafi in Geneva in July 2008. Hopefully this
“independent” tribunal will restore relations between
the two countries, which have suffered disruption of
flights between Tripoli and Switzerland, the decline in
bilateral trade and even worse: the almost total
withdrawal of Libyan funds from Switzerland.
To observers, Switzerland has now made a habit of bowing
to pressures from other governments, this week has also
seen Swiss bank U.B.S agreeing to cooperate with the
United States concerning tax evading citizens.
Wednesday’s agreement is a clear breach of Swiss banking
secrecy.
Swisslatin / adapted by Stephen Hinch
(24.08.2009) |
