Merz said to have met Gaddafi
Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz is reported to have met the Libyan leader, Moammar Gaddafi, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Merz’s finance ministry has not confirmed the report by the Libyan Jana news agency.
But in an interview Merz gave to Swiss French television, he said he planned to meet Gaddafi. That interview was published on the television website on Thursday.
According to Jana, the meeting took place on Wednesday, the day Gaddafi addressed the opening session of the UN.
Switzerland has been locked in a diplomatic crisis with Libya since July last year when Geneva police detained one of Gaddafi’s sons, Hannibal, on suspicion of attacking his domestic staff.
Two Swiss businessmen have been detained in Libya ever since, and efforts to enable them to leave the country have so far been unsuccessful.
Merz travelled to Libya in August and apologised for Hannibal’s arrest but returned empty-handed.
Meanwhile, a civil case brought by Libya against the Geneva authorities over Hannibal’s arrest has been suspended at the request of all parties. A court hearing scheduled for Thursday in Geneva was cancelled.
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