Brussels condemns Libya's visa decision

The EU yesterday condemned Libya's unilateral decision to stop issuing visas to all passengers travelling from the Schengen area and said it would discuss the matter in the coming days.

Justice Commissioner Cecilia Malmström deplored the unilateral and disproportionate decision by the Libyan authorities to suspend the issue of visas to EU Schengen countries' citizens.

"The European Commission also regrets that travellers who legally obtained visas before the suspension measure were refused entry when arriving in Libya," she said.

"The issue will be discussed before the end of the week by the European Commission, EU member states and the Schengen associated countries within the framework of the visa group, which will consider the appropriate reaction," she added.

Sources said one of the possible scenarios was that the EU would suspend the issue of visas for Libyans wanting to travel to member countries. However, this possibility will only be a last resort.

"We will try to solve this through the normal diplomatic channels and counter-reactions will only be introduced if all our bona fide efforts fail," the sources said.

Libya's decision to stop issuing visas to almost all EU citizens except for those not part of Schengen, like the UK, seems to be a reaction over a row with Switzerland - a member of Schengen but not of the EU - which followed the arrest of Hannibal Gaddafi, the son of Libya's leader almost two years ago.

Mr Gaddafi, 33, was held in a Swiss jail for two days after his arrest in July 2008 because he and his wife were accused of beating up their servants in a Geneva hotel.

Geneva authorities dropped their criminal investigation after the two servants received compensation from an undisclosed source and withdrew their complaint.

Since then, the Swiss government's policy towards Libya has vacillated between capitulation and hardball tactics, with both failing to resolve the dispute.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi forced Swiss Finance Minister and then-President Hans-Rudolf Merz to apologise in Libya last year and agree to possible compensation claims. Libya pulled most of its money out of Swiss vaults and the Libyan authorities continue to detain two Swiss citizens after 18 months on charges criticised by Amnesty International and the UN as a form of political revenge.

In response, Switzerland suspended a deal aimed to improve bilateral relations and initiated a visa blacklist that included the Libyan leader and his family. This has drawn the rest of Europe into the dispute because a travel ban from one member of the continent's passport-free Schengen agreement is binding on all.