Recently most of us heard about the incident involving the son of Libya’s leader Hannibal Gaddafi that caused quite the stir in the relations between Switzerland and Libya.
Libya is a country in North Africa with a big territory mostly covered by desert and a small population. It is among the ten richest nations in the world in terms of oil reserves. The country has been ruled by Muammar Gaddafi since the military coup in 1969. With the help of other junior officers Gaddafi, then only a captain took control over the wealthy oil state from the current sultan Idris. Ever since the political leader has become symbol of foreign relations fluctuations and dictatorship.
The current incident happened in 2008 when Hannibal Gaddafi, Muammar’s son was arrested in Switzerland. He and his wife were taken in Geneva by police on charges of beating their two servants with a belt and a hanger. The two rejected the accusations. They were released two days later and left the country promptly. In 2005 Hannibal was arrested and convicted for beating his girlfriend in France so this is not his first trouble with the law.
As a result Libya took measures against Switzerland. The Jamahiriya forbid Swiss nationals from travelling to the country. Car Hire Libya recalled its diplomats, suspended the issuing of visas and reduced flights to the European country. Moreover, two Swiss were arrested on various charges. Many Swiss companies in Libya received orders to close their operations and many others were sealed by authorities.
Switzerland sent a diplomatic mission to the capital to try to prevent the crisis and to give details about the arrest to Gaddafi government. The Swiss foreign ministry complained about the African state’s behavior towards Swiss business ventures and they retaliated by stopping Libyan oil shipments. The state company transporting oil is close related to Hannibal. Furthermore, ships sailing under the flag of Switzerland were forbidden entry in Libyan ports. The next step in the escalation of the matter was the Libyan oil refinery in Switzerland. Later Libya withdrew their money from Swiss banks.
The next round was that Switzerland banned 188 Libya nationals from entering the country. All of those are political elite and among them is even Muammar Gaddafi. The country pushed further by rejecting Libyan Shengen visa applicants and asked other European nations to follow suit.
Now, two years later Libyan mediators were rejected entry in Switzerland. A request has been brought for international arbitration supported by both sides, but it has not achieved anything yet. On Libya’s side so far have joined the Arab League Council and Arab Maghreb Union. The African state is complaining about biased media coverage of the incident.
Muammar Gaddafi’s official statement on this matter is that there was use of excessive force during the arrest of his son. Also, that the Geneva police force did not show enough consideration to Hannibal’s wife who was pregnant and their other child that was also there.
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