Muammar Qaddafi was killed on Thursday after 42 years of eccentric one-man rule. Libya is now set to embark on building a democracy, with elections next year.
In an interview with the Sonntag newspaper, Micheline Calmy-Rey detailed three possible ways in which Switzerland could help Libya rebuild after its eight-month civil war.
“I can imagine Switzerland engaging in three concrete areas during the transition phase: in disarming the population, in reforming the security forces as well as in demining,” she said.
“Our security centers in Geneva have the necessary expertise. Switzerland is also ready to take part in a UN mission.”
Relations between Switzerland and Libya soured in July 2008 when Geneva police arrested Qaddafi’s son Hannibal on charges of abusing two domestic employees. The charges were later dropped after a confidential settlement negotiated with the employees.
Libya withdrew more than $5 billion from Swiss banks, halted oil exports to Switzerland and detained two Swiss businessmen who had been working there for more than a year.
Calmy-Rey said Switzerland was on good terms with Libya’s interim government, the National Transition Council (NTC).
“Early on Switzerland acknowledged the National Transition Council as its single point of contact in Libya,” she said.
Calmy-Rey also said she hoped the some 265 million Swiss francs ($300 mln) still in Switzerland could be unfrozen soon.
“Certainly we hope that the 265 million francs that are still in Switzerland can soon be released,” she said.
“Around 90 percent of them belong to state-owned Libyan companies. We assume that the UN Security Council will make a decision about releasing these state funds relatively soon.”
Switzerland has already unfrozen 385 million francs and made them available to the new Libyan authorities for the Libyan National Oil Company and Libya Investment Authority.
In August the country’s head of sanctions said it planned to release the frozen assets as soon as the United Nations lifted sanctions that were imposed on Qaddafi’s government.
