SWISS CHARGE OPTIMISTIC ON RELEASE OF TWO BUSINESSMEN \

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 \