GENEVA, Feb 23
A Swiss businessman barred from leaving Libya for 19 months was thought to be heading home on Tuesday, and Switzerland said it was now trying to win the release of the local head of ABB from a Libyan jail.
The two businessmen have been at the centre of a dispute between Berne and Tripoli that has blown up to drag in most members of the European Union, threatening booming business ties with the North Africa country.
Much is at stake as Libya, a major oil producer, has been attracting billions of dollars in foreign investment since it emerged from decades of international isolation, with European companies vying for much of the business.
"It's like a dream," Rachid Hamdani told Swiss television from Tunisia, after crossing the border with Libya by car early on Tuesday.
He said it was painful to leave behind Max Goeldi, who headed the Libyan operations of electrical engineering firm ABB.
Hamdani was authorised to leave Libya after being acquitted on charges of immigration irregularities and violating business rules, while Goeldi was jailed on Monday after being sentenced to four months in prison for immigration violations.
"I feel ill at ease returning alone without him," said Hamdani, a dual Swiss-Tunisian national.
Goeldi's safe return was now at the "centre of our efforts" the Swiss foreign ministry said. A Swiss diplomat visited him on Tuesday in jail, it said.
"Given the situation, he is doing quite well. He has had a visit from his lawyer and has contacts with EU diplomats," Swiss foreign ministry spokesman Lars Knuchel told Reuters from Berne.
Hamdani's Libyan lawyer Salah Zalaf told the Swiss news agency ATS that his client was due to arrive in Geneva later on Tuesday. Neither the Swiss foreign ministry nor airport authorities could confirm this.
His wife Bruna Hamdani told Reuters from the couple's home in a village 25 km (15 miles) from Geneva she was waiting to hear details of his return home.
"I have been patient for 19 months, so I am used to it," she said.
The men left the shelter of the Swiss embassy in Tripoli on Monday after Libyan police surrounded the building. EU member Austria later said Libyan authorities had threatened to storm the embassy unless the pair holed up there came out.
Both men had been barred from leaving Libya since July 2008 after Geneva police angered Tripoli by arresting a son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on charges -- later dropped -- of abusing domestic staff. Libya denies any link between the two cases.
The diplomatic row escalated last week when Tripoli said it would stop issuing entry visas to most EU citizens in retaliation for a Swiss imposition of visa restrictions on some Libyans.
Swiss media showed Goeldi handcuffed in the back of a car on his way to prison on Monday.
"ABB confirms that Max Goeldi has reported to prison. We hope that this situation will be resolved as soon as possible," Goeldi's employer said in a statement.
Goeldi is being held in Tripoli's Al-Jeida prison, Manon Schick of Amnesty International told Reuters.
-Reuters
