Swiss businessman returns from Libya, other held

A Swiss businessman barred from leaving Libya for 19 months returned to Switzerland on Tuesday, and Swiss authorities said they were 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 and dragged in most members of the European Union, threatening booming business ties with the North African 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.                                           

"(Rachid Hamdani) is now back in Switzerland," a Swiss source told Reuters late on Tuesday night. "He entered the country via Zurich."                                           

"It's like a dream," 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 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 who had been working in Libya for a Swiss construction firm.