Libya has suspended issuing entry visas to citizens from 25 European nations in the Schengen zone over a diplomatic row with Switzerland, said officials on Monday.
The Libyan move follows a Swiss government decision to ban more than 180 Libyan officials from entering its territory, including Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi and his family.
Meanwhile, EU commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmstrom said in a statement on Monday that "the European Commission deplores the unilateral and disproportionate decision by Libyan authorities to suspend the delivery of visas to EU Schengen countries' citizens."
"The Commission also regrets that travellers who legally obtained visas before the suspension measure were refused entry when arriving in Libya," Malmstrom added in the statement.
Switzerland is one of the members of the border-free Schengen zone, which is made up of 25 countries—including 22 of the 27 European Union member states and three other European nations.
The five EU member states which are not part of the Schengen zone are UK, the Republic of Ireland, Cyprus, Romania and Bulgaria, while non-EU member countries in the grouping are Switzerland, Iceland and Norway.
The Libya-Switzerland diplomatic spat began in July 2008 after Moamer Gaddafi's son Hannibal Gaddafi was arrested at a luxury hotel in Geneva after two of his domestic staff accused him and his wife of beating them.
Though Hannibal was released on bail three days later and the charges against him dropped, his father Moamer Gaddafi demanded an apology from the Swiss government over the issue.
When the Swiss government refused to oblige to his demand, Col. Gaddafi ordered the arrest of the country manager of Swiss engineering group ABB Ltd as well as a second Swiss businessman on alleged immigration violations. Simultaneously, Libya cut off all economic and diplomatic ties with Switzerland.
However, Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz traveled to Tripoli in August 2008 to apologize to Col. Muammar Gaddafi for the arrest of his son in an effort to secure the release the two Swiss businessmen and repair the damaged commercial relations with the oil-rich nation.
The two Swiss businessmen prevented from leaving Libya have been living in the Swiss embassy in Tripoli since July 2008 to avoid a possible 16-month sentence. While a Libyan court has dismissed the case against one of the Swiss businessman, the other was ordered to pay a fine of around $800.
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