Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) has taken initial steps towards economic contact with Switzerland.
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Foreign ministry spokesman Georg Farago confirmed this on Monday but added that for the time being mutual sanctions remained in place.
Part of these sanctions would be lifted “soon” by Switzerland, which would assume revisions made by the European Union, according to Marie Avet, spokeswoman for the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco).
On Friday the EU’s official journal listed 28 Libyan entities freed from EU sanctions as work got under way to send in supplies and export oil through ports previously controlled by Moammar Gaddafi.
Nearly 60 countries have recognised the NTC, including Britain and the United States. Switzerland is not one of them because it only recognises states, according to Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey.
After chasing Gaddafi out of his Tripoli compound last month, Libya’s new rulers are trying to control the entire country and restore normality.
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