Calmy-Rey seeks Gaddafi meeting for Merz
The foreign ministry is attempting to set up a meeting between Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz and Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi.
The aim is to clear the air between the two countries. Relations have been strained since Gaddafi’s son and his wife were arrested in Geneva last July and charged with assaulting two domestic employees.
Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey revealed the behind the scenes efforts to set up a meeting in a meeting with journalists. She did not specify whether a date had already been agreed.
Discussions are ongoing and “we are making all possible and imaginable efforts and are being very creative in those efforts”, Calmy-Rey said.
Merz confirmed he was approached by a high-ranking personality during a recent visit to the United Arab Emirates and agreed to meet the Libyan leader.
Charges against the Gaddafi couple were dropped last September after the servants withdrew their complaint, having reached a financial agreement.
Two Swiss nationals have been detained in Libya since last July charged with immigration offences, as a retaliatory response to the arrest of Gaddafi’s son. Calmy-Rey visited the pair in May to check on their condition.
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