Word: gaddafi
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...rift, which threatens multi-billion-dollar investments in Libya, began when Swiss police arrested Gaddafi's youngest son Hannibal and his wife in July 2008, for allegedly assaulting two of their servants in a Geneva hotel. The couple denied the charges, which were quickly dropped, but the row continued. Offended by Swiss newspaper portrayals of his son, Gaddafi withdrew billions in Libyan funds from Swiss banks in July of last year, prompting the Swiss president to fly to Tripoli to apologize for the arrest. (See pictures of the rise of Gaddafi...
...Gaddafi was still not mollified. Last August, two Swiss businessmen were arrested in Tripoli for overstaying their visas. After a five-month standoff, one was allowed to leave Libya last week, while the second began a four-month prison term...
...Libya has not been the only one stoking the feud. On Feb. 14, Switzerland banned 188 Libyans including Col. Gaddafi himself, from entering its country. Libya immediately retaliated, freezing all visas of citizens belonging to the 25 European countries (including Switzerland) that belong to the continent's shared visa system, called Schengen. The dispute rose above personal issues into an affront against Islam in early February, when Swiss citizens voted in a national referendum to halt the construction of minarets...
...Libyan officials say the visa ban could last some time, in part because many applaud Gaddafi for his stand against Switzerland. "How could the Swiss put 188 names on this list [of Libyans banned from the country] including the Leader of the Revolution?" asks Abdul Majeed el-Dursi, director of the government's press office for foreign journalists. "This is something which is done to criminals. I think it will continue until they [Switzerland] comes to their senses...
...Read "Gaddafi's Oddest Idea: Abolish Switzerland...