[Iran Press TV Latest] Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son Hannibal, whose arrest is at the heart of the 18-month diplomatic row between Bern and Tripoli, has visited a jailed Swiss businessman.
| "Nyah nyah!" being the essence of young Master Gaddafi's side of the conversation. |
Max Goeldi, who was transferred to a jail last week to serve a four-month sentence, was detained with another Swiss businessman, Rashid Hamdani, four days after the brief July 2008 arrest of Hannibal at a Geneva hotel.
"I am happy for this occasion which enabled me to meet you, and I hope that justice takes its course and things are remedied," Goeldi told Hannibal during the meeting at Al-Jadaida prison.
| "And nyah again, you poopy-head Swiss man!" |
Goeldi's lawyer and several journalists were present at the meeting, according to the AFP news agency.
Following their arrest, the Swiss nationals were prevented from leaving Libya, charged with visa manipulation and initially sentenced to 16 months in jail. A Libyan court later overturned Hamdani's sentence and allowed his departure, also reducing Goeldi's jail term to four months.
| What magnanimity for a false charge. |
While Bern says the businessmen's arrest was a retaliatory move, Tripoli denies that the move was in any way related to the Geneva incident.
However, relations have steadily spiraled downward ever since. Libya's first response to Hannibal's arrest was to cancel all flights to Switzerland, cut oil supplies, and threaten to withdraw billions from Swiss banks.
Later, the eccentric Libyan leader called on the United Nations to abolish Switzerland as a state and divide it between neighboring countries. Last Month, Gaddafi called for a holy war against Switzerland over a recent Swiss ban on the construction of minarets.
| Was he always this mad, or has the syphilis finally settled in his brain? |
In February, Libya suspended visas to Schengen countries, following Switzerland's alleged decision to blacklist 188 high-ranking Libyans, denying them entry permits. |