Libya: Two Swiss nationals held hostage

  1. Posted on Friday 30 October 2009 - 10:30
    KingsleyKobo
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    Kingsley Kobo, AfricaNews reporter in Abidjan, Ivory Coast
    A Swiss engineering company, ABB Group, has announced losing contact with an employee detained in Libya since he was moved to an undisclosed location last month.
    Gaddafi
    At a new conference in Zurich on Thursday, ABB Chief Executive Joe Hogan said his company hadn't heard from Swiss employee Max Goeldi for weeks and was concerned about his safety.

    Goeldi and another Swiss businessman, Rachid Hamdani, have not been allowed to leave Libya for more than a year.

    Their detention, according AP, is an apparent retaliation for the July 2008 arrest in Geneva of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's son and daughter-in-law.

    Hannibal Gadhafi and his wife were released shortly after their arrest for allegedly beating up two servants in a luxury hotel.

    Libyan authorities detained Goeldi and Hamdani on September 18. The ministry of foreign affairs says they are now being held at a secure location to guard against a possible Swiss rescue mission.

    Last month in New York, Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz held a closed-door meeting with Moammar Gadhafi to negotiate the pair's release but to no avail.

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