Swiss government apology to Libya triggers domestic fury

GENEVA, Aug 21, 2009 (AFP) - Swiss media on Friday reacted with fury to President Hans-Rudolf Merz's apology to Libya over the arrest in Geneva last year of a son of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, branding it a humiliation.

Nowhere was the outrage deeper than in Geneva, where regional authorities had refused to climb down over the incident in July 2008, which occurred after two servants of Hannibal Kadhafi and his wife alleged they had been mistreated.

"The agreement between Switzerland and Libya owes more to a farce than to a diplomatic exploit," the Tribune de Geneve said in an editorial.

It accused Merz of bowing to a totalitarian state "while denying the principles of a constitutional state."

The francophone daily Le Temps called it a "humiliation" and a measure of Switzerland's "impotence," while Le Matin lamented that Merz had "grovelled on every point."

Switzerland "loses more than its honour. It is a stark reminder of its spectacular isolation," added Le Temps.

Merz, who is also the finance minister, held a joint news conference in Tripoli with Libyan Prime Minister Baghdadi Mahmudi on Thursday to apologise to the Libyan people "for the unjust arrest of Libyan diplomats by Geneva police."

The Swiss finance ministry said the agreement was aimed at restoring bilateral relations and would also secure the release by September 1 of two Swiss businessmen in Libya who were also banned from leaving the country.

Libya had responded by suspending oil deliveries to Switzerland, withdrawing assets worth an estimated five billion euros from Swiss banks, ending bilateral cooperation programmes and placing restrictions on Swiss companies.

In an editorial headlined "Kadhafi only speaks one language," the Neue Zurcher Zeitung called the apology a "bitter" but "necessary" pill to swallow in order to secure the freedom of the businessmen and restore bilateral relations.

"Switzerland is apologising to the leader of the Libyan revolution for the fact that in ... Geneva, all are equal before the law," it added.

The Kadhafi couple were freed after two days in custody on bail of 500,000 Swiss francs (312,500 euros, 444,000 dollars).

The complaint against them was dropped after a lawyer for their servants -- a Moroccan and a Tunisian -- said they had received compensation.

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