Secrecy and Libya discussed with Italians

Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey continued a diplomatic tour on Monday when she met her Italian counterpart to talk about banking secrecy.

Switzerland has not been invited to attend a meeting of the world’s biggest economies, the G20, in April. In the lead up, Calmy-Rey has been meeting foreign leaders to convey Switzerland’s position on tax treaties and the exchange of bank data.

Italy will likely be one of the first countries Switzerland will sit with to renegotiate tax treaties.

The meeting also included discussions on energy and transportation issues as well.

The Italians might step in and help Switzerland with another sensitive diplomatic matter, too, Libya.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini reportedly offered to moderate talks between Switzerland and Libya after relations chilled following the arrest of Hannibal Gaddafi, son of leader Muammar Gaddafi, in Geneva last year.

Domestic workers had claimed that Gaddafi and his wife had abused them, but the workers later retracted their story.

Libya is demanding an apology and punishment for those responsible for the arrest, which Calmy-Rey has rejected. She has said the police could have used more tact.