The announcement marks yet another chapter in the ongoing diplomatic dispute between Libya and Switzerland. This broke out in July last year following the arrest of Colonel Gaddafi’s son Hannibal in Geneva. He and his wife, Aline, were later released without charge.

The two Swiss nationals—Rachid Hamdani and Max Göldi—were handed back the Swiss embassy in Tripoli earlier this week after being kept in a secret location for several weeks.

WRS’s Adam Beaumont spoke to Said Laswad, a professor political science at Libya’s Al Fateh University. Dr Laswad is also editor of the English-language weekly newspaper, the Tripoli Post.