Gaddafi asked UN for Switzerland to be abolished

Col Muammar Gaddafi's Libya proposed a UN motion calling for the abolition of Switzerland after a dispute over the arrest of one of the president's sons, it has emerged. The Alpine country should be folded into France, Germany and Italy, according to the bizarre proposal.

However, the motion never came before the council because it was dismissed as against the principals of the UN charter, a spokesman for the multi-national body said. According to the charter, no member country can threaten the existence or sovereignty of another.

The incident followed a diplomatic dispute after Hannibal Gaddafi and his wife Aline, were held by police in July 2008, accused of assaulting their servants at a Geneva hotel.


The couple were freed on bail after two days in custody. The complaint against them was dropped after a lawyer for their servants, a Moroccan and a Tunisian, said they had received an undisclosed amount in compensation.

Gaddafi retaliated by closing Swiss businesses in Libya, arresting Swiss nationals and throwing the country's diplomats out. He also suspended oil deliveries to Switzerland and withdrew assets worth nearly £4 billion from Swiss banks. The Swiss Foreign Ministry described it as a single-minded campaign against Swiss interests.

Swiss president Hans-Rudolf Merz, travelled to the Libyan capital, Tripoli, to deliver a personal apology, infuriating many Swiss who felt their country should have stood its ground.