Libya was ready to release Swiss detainees in September: Swiss paper

Libya was ready to release two Swiss detainees on Sept. 6, a Swiss newspaper revealed on Wednesday.

But Libya reversed its decision after photos of Hannibal Ghaddafi, son of Libyan leader Muammar Ghaddafi, were published in Swiss newspaper the Tribune de Geneve on Sept. 4, according to the Le Matin newspaper said.

The pictures were mug shots from the July 2008 arrest of the younger Ghaddafi for allegedly mistreating two servants during a stay in Geneva, said the paper.

Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey accused Libya of "kidnapping" two Swiss businessmen last Thursday, after the two, who were banned from leaving Libya for one year, went missing when they left the Swiss embassy for a medical examination at the request of Libyan authorities last month.

Switzerland's Federal Department of Foreign Affairs updated its travel advisory on Monday, warning Swiss citizens to avoid layovers in Libya.

Libya and Switzerland have had a hostile relationship since the arrest of Hannibal Ghaddafi and his wife in July last year.

Miguel Stucky, an employer of Rachid Hamdani, one of the two Swiss detainees, told Le Matin that both detainees had their passports in hand and were supposed to depart on Sept. 6 after the Libyan courts had received their bail of 900,000 CHF (882,353 U.S. dollars).

Source: Xinhua