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Tue, March 15, 2011 | WikiLeaks

WikiLeaks: Swiss Charge Optimistic on Release of Two Businessmen Detained in Libya

Swiss Charge Stefano Lazarotto remains optimistic about the release of two Swiss businessmen who have been detained in Libya since July 2008. He said that while the September 1 deadline for their release had passed, the government of Libya had given him positive indications that the release was imminent.

Source: WikiLeaks

Reference ID: 09TRIPOLI714
Created: 2009-09-08 13:01
Classification: CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN
Origin: Embassy Tripoli

2009-09-08 13:49:00
09TRIPOLI714
Embassy Tripoli

CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN

08TRIPOLI592|09BERN351|09TRIPOLI59

VZCZCXRO0398
PP RUEHBC RUEHDBU RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHFL RUEHKUK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP
RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
DE RUEHTRO #0714/01 2511349
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P R 081349Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5222
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUEHSW/AMEMBASSY BERN 0042
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0023
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI 5767

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TRIPOLI 000714

NOFORN
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/MAG

E.O. 12958: DECL: 9/8/2019
TAGS: PREL SZ LY
SUBJECT: SWISS CHARGE OPTIMISTIC ON RELEASE OF TWO BUSINESSMEN

REF: A. 08 TRIPOLI 592; B. TRIPOLI 59; C. BERN 351

TRIPOLI 00000714 001.2 OF 003

CLASSIFIED BY: Gene A. Cretz, Ambassador, U.S. Embassy Tripoli,
Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d)

¶1. (C/NF) Summary: Swiss Charge Stefano Lazarotto remains
optimistic about the release of two Swiss businessmen who have
been detained in Libya since July 2008. He said that while the
September 1 deadline for their release had passed, the GOL had
given him positive indications that the release was imminent.
Lazarotto outlined for Pol/Econ Chief the August 20 agreement to
normalize relations that was concluded between Swiss President
Hans-Rudolf Merz and GOL Prime Minister-equivalent al-Baghdadi
al-Mahmoudi. Although the two sides appointed representatives
to an arbitration panel to investigate the July 2008 arrest of
Hanibal al-Qadhafi, as stipulated by the agreement, Lazarotto
said the Swiss would not take further steps to implement the
agreement until the two businessmen were released. He also
related that the Swiss government planned to nominate him as
Ambassador to Libya after the situation with the Swiss
businessmen has been resolved. Lazarotto’s fatigued appearance
betrayed the stress that the conflict has placed on him and
Swiss interests in Libya. End Summary.

SWISS BUSINESSMEN STILL UNDER HOUSE ARREST

¶2. (C/NF) Swiss Charge d’Affaires Stefano Lazarotto told
Pol/Econ Chief September 3 that he was hopeful that the two
Swiss businessmen who have been under house arrest since July
2008 would be released soon. [Note: The Swiss businessmen were
placed under arrest and deprived of their passports by Libyan
government officials in August 2008 on charges of commercial
misdeeds. The businessmen later sought refuge at the Embassy of
Switzerland. (refs A, B) End note.] Lazarotto explained that
the release of the Swiss businessmen was not included as part of
the August 20 agreement to normalize relations between Libya and
Switzerland because the GOL denies a connection between the
arrest and the July 2008 arrest in Geneva of Hanibal al-Qadhafi
and his wife. Nevertheless, Lazarotto noted that the issue had
been discussed by Merz and Libyan PM-equivalent al-Baghdadi
al-Mahmoudi during their closed meeting. Lazarotto said the GOL
had assured Merz that the businessmen would be released prior to
September 1. Now that the deadline had passed, Lazarotto
explained that he was “constantly” calling his Libyan contacts
within the PM’s office and MFA to try to obtain the
businessmen’s passports, which the GOL is still holding. He
reasoned that one cause for the delay may have been that Libyan
officials had been preoccupied with the September 1 anniversary
of Qadhafi’s coup and could not move the issue forward.

¶3. (C/NF) Lazarotto declined to comment on rumors that the GOL
was demanding a one million Euro payment in exchange for the
release of the businessmen. However, he expressed concern about
the detailed information the press had managed to obtain and
report regarding the businessmen’s release. Specifically, he
worried that press reports describing his plans to return the
two Swiss businessmen to Switzerland on August 31 had
contributed to the GOL’s delay in resolving the issue, given the
optic that the Swiss had been spinning up the situation in the
press. Likewise, Lazarotto complained that he was receiving
myriad inquiries from Bern regarding who had informed the media
about various aspects of the Swiss-Libyan negotiations. He
lamented, “I even receive calls in the middle of the night from
Bern. They do not understand the kind of pressure I am under.
I have lost seven kilos in the past ten days.”

¶4. (C/NF) Lazarotto said the Swiss citizens, initially elated
about the possibility of returning home by September 1, had
grown depressed as the days passed. He said they were living in
apartments above the Swiss Embassy and that he and a colleague
temporarily assigned from Bern were also staying in the
apartments, both for practical reasons (Lazarotto’s residence is
being renovated) and to maintain morale. Lazarotto explained
that none of the four could sleep at night and resorted to
playing ping-pong on the front porch to pass the time. They
have not left the embassy since August 31, for fear of missing a
phone call that could come in by landline.

SWISS-LIBYA AGREEMENT DESIGNED TO PUNISH SWITZERLAND

¶5. (C/NF) Regarding the agreement between Switzerland and Libya
to normalize relations, Lazarotto described a stressful week of
middle-of-the-night negotiations at the Corinthia Hotel. He
said the GOL had put forward several demands, most of which the
Swiss had met. Lazarotto was summoned back to Libya during the
third day of his three-week holiday in order to accompany
Hans-Rudolf Merz to negotiate the text of the agreement.
Lazarotto noted that the round-the-clock negotiations had forced
him and his colleague – Director of the Regional Office for

TRIPOLI 00000714 002.2 OF 003

North Africa in Bern – to sleep in their car parked outside the
hotel during two nights of the negotiating period. Lazarotto
said that the Libyan Prime Minister and his representatives
directed the negotiations; MFA A/S-equivalent for European
Affairs, Abdulati al-Obeidi, was not involved.

¶6. (C/NF) According to the text of the document, the two sides
had agreed to “settle the dispute which resulted from the
incident of the arrest of the Libyan diplomat Mr. Hannibal Mumar
Al Gaddafi, and of accompanying unjustified and unnecessary
measures against him and his family from the authorities of the
Canton of Geneva and the Federal Swiss Authorities before,
during and after [July 15, 2008]” (ref C). The agreement
required an official and public apology for the arrest, which
Merz offered on August 20 to al-Mahmoudi during a press
conference announcing the settlement. Lazarotto countered media
reports that the Swiss government was demanding Merz’s
resignation due to his decision to apologize to the Libyans.
Lazarotto said that the initial, negative sentiment surrounding
the settlement had waned and that several members of the Cabinet
of Ministers had come around to supporting Merz’s decision.

¶7. (C/NF) Additionally, the agreement stipulates that both sides
would establish an arbitration tribunal, to which each nation
would appoint an arbitrator, to investigate the incident and
determine a punishment, if the tribunal determines that the
defendants had acted illegally (ref C). Lazarotto noted that
the agreement specifies that the appointment of the arbitrator
should have been done ten days after the signing of the
agreement, but that the GOL took twelve days to appoint its
candidate. “I am half Italian,” Lazarotto noted, “and I
understand time differently than my Swiss-German colleagues in
Bern. Those colleagues noticed that the Libyans violated the
deadline.” Based on the delay in appointing a representative to
the arbitration tribunal, Lazarotto held out hope that the
Libyans would release the Swiss citizens, even though that
deadline had also passed.

¶8. (C/NF) Lazarotto highlighted the sixth section of the
seven-part agreement as particularly questionable. That section
commits the Swiss government “not to repeat this incident in the
future against the Libyan Citizens or Libyan Officials and to
improve their treatment and facilitate their procedures.”
Lazarotto mused, “What are we supposed to do if another Qadhafi
son violates the laws of Switzerland – ignore it? Perhaps
instead of asking questions, we should just throw him in jail
immediately!”

¶9. (C/NF) The last article of the agreement officially
normalizes relations between the two countries and states: “They
will designate immediately a person from their respective
Ministries of Foreign Affairs to settle all issues presently
affecting their bilateral relationship, amongst others all
consular activities to all citizens of both countries, including
issuing of exit-entry visa for Swiss and Libyan citizens and
officials, trade and commercial relations between the two
countries including resumption of air flight between the two
countries. The designated persons [should] complete their task
within sixty days.” Lazarotto clarified that he was the
appointed negotiator for the Swiss side and that the GOL had
designated MFA Vice Minister Khaled Kaim (U/S-equivalent) as his
interlocutor. He emphasized that no other bilateral issues
would be discussed until the Swiss citizens had been released.
Lazarotto explained that the Swiss government intended to
upgrade his position to ambassador after restoration of
political and business relations has been completed. He
expressed concern that his “harassment” of GOL interlocutors
over the release of the Swiss citizens could spoil his relations
to the extent that the GOL would refuse to accept his
ambassadorial credentials.

¶10. (C/NF) Comment: Lazarotto presented an upbeat and positive
demeanor during the meeting, but his physical appearance – gaunt
and fatigued – betrayed the internal stress that the
Swiss-Libyan conflict has forced on him. Although Lazarotto’s
colleague from Bern has stayed to help him with daily embassy
tasks, he is the only Swiss official accredited to Libya. The
recent agreement seems to represent a consolidation of earlier
attempts by Libya to move the goalposts – both sides had agreed
to form a joint arbitral tribunal over a year ago, but the two
sides failed to find mutually acceptable language for their
final report. Swiss diplomats in Tripoli continue to complain
that policymakers in Bern and Geneva fail to understand how to
deal with the Qadhafi clan, noting that Bern has now given in to
each successive Libyan demand. With nothing more to offer

TRIPOLI 00000714 003.2 OF 003

Libya, the Swiss seem forced to wait until Qadhafi is ready to
grant the one concession they need – the release of the two
Swiss citizens. Despite the assurances of senior MFA officials,
Qadhafi’s willingness to stake family reputation over foreign
relations makes it difficult to predict when the Swiss
businessmen will be allowed to leave. End Comment.

CRETZ