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Tripoli: Libya has halted all of its oil deliveries to Switzerland and barred Swiss ships from its ports to protest the arrest of Muammar Gaddafi's son in Geneva, a state-run shipping company said on Thursday.
Libya's General National Maritime Transportation Company stopped oil shipments to Switzerland on Wednesday, said the head of the company, Ali Bilhajj Ahmad. A joint statement from Libya's port authority and the company - which handles nearly all its oil exports and lists Hannibal Gaddafi, 32, as its official "adviser" - also warned of "new escalatory measures" against Switzerland and demanded that Bern "close within the next few hours the case it fabricated" against Gaddafi's son. The company says it is the only Libyan-based firm supplying oil to Switzerland.
The oil freeze was Libya's latest action in response to the arrest last week of Hannibal Gaddafi and his wife. Police arrested them on July 15 at a luxury hotel in Geneva for allegedly beating two of their servants, according to their lawyer. They were released on bail two days later and left the country.
Swiss officials said yesterday they were seeking a rapid resolution to the diplomatic crisis but stressed that there was no risk of fuel shortages. A Swiss government spokeswoman said the authorities were "concerned at the retaliatory measures," but hoped the situation would calm "rapidly" and that the measures would be "annulled". "Diplomatic exchanges are under way right now," she stated.
Libya recalled some of its diplomats from Switzerland, suspended the issuing of visas for Swiss citizens, reduced the number of flights to Switzerland and detained two Swiss nationals on various charges, the Swiss Foreign Ministry said. Switzerland, in turn, warned its citizens not to travel to Libya. British oil company BP said it had not encountered problems meeting demand at its 400 Swiss pumps.
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