Libya to withdraw $7b from Swiss banks

Tripoli: Libya will withdraw $7 billion of assets held in Swiss banks and end economic cooperation with Switzerland to protest the poor treatment of Libyan diplomats and businessmen, Libyan news agency Jana said.

The Opec-member country will also cut oil supplies to Switzerland, JANA cited an unnamed foreign ministry source as saying in a statement on Friday.

"Due to the poor treatment a number of Libyan diplomats and businessmen received from the police in the canton of Geneva, the Great Jamahiriyah (Libya) has decided to stop pumping crude oil for Switzerland and withdraw Libyan assets deposited in Swiss banks which are worth $7 billion," the statement said.

"It has also decided to suspend all forms of economic cooperation with Switzerland until the reasons and the motives behind such practices are known," it added. The decision comes three months after a diplomatic row when a son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was arrested and charged with mistreating two domestic employees.

Hannibal Gaddafi denied the charges and was freed on bail, but the case caused uproar in Tripoli and led to the detention of two Swiss nationals, who were later released.