TRIPOLI, Oct 10: Libya will halt oil deliveries to Switzerland and withdraw its funds from Swiss banks in protest at the detention in Geneva in July of a son of leader Moamer Kadhafi, the official news agency announced.

Libya “has decided to stop crude oil shipments to Switzerland and withdraw Libyan assets from Swiss banks, which amount to seven billion dollars,” JANA said overnight.

The Libyan news agency quoted an unidentified foreign ministry official as saying said Tripoli will “also put an end to all economic cooperation with Switzerland” in protest at the “poor treatment of Libyan diplomats and businessmen by the canton of Geneva.” Swiss President Pascal Couchepin said Libya’s decision will not threaten the economy.

“The current situation on the oil markets is not tense, prices show that there is sufficient oil on the market. So there’s no danger for Switzerland,” he told Swiss German-language television.

Even if the economy is not threatened by the measures, “it is never okay when a country with which we are trying to maintain friendly relations takes measures against Switzerland,” he said.

Libya supplies about 2.5 million tonnes of crude to Switzerland a year, about 20 per cent of the country’s total needs.

Libya first threatened to halt oil deliveries when Kadhafi’s son Hannibal was arrested in Switzerland in July along with his wife Aline after two servants claimed they had abused them.

The threat was not carried out and Swiss prosecutors closed the case last month after the two servants, a Tunisian woman and a Moroccan man who received compensation from the couple, dropped assault charges.

The Swiss foreign ministry said in a statement that “it would continue its efforts to resolve the problems” between the two countries. Meetings between high-ranking diplomats between the two countries have been taking place.

The official news agency said the Libyan decision would be revoked once the reasons for the treatment of the diplomats and businessmen have been explained. Tripoli wants a formal apology from Bern and has stopped two Swiss nationals from leaving the country in retaliation for Hannibal Kadhafi’s arrest.—AFP