Gaddafi goes Gadaffy over Swiss arrest of son

Scotsman:

AS FAR as attacks of "monster parent syndrome" go, it has to be one of the world's worst. President Moammar Gaddafi appears to have declared economic war on Switzerland after it had the temerity to arrest his wayward son.

Hannibul Gaddafi, 32, and his pregnant wife were detained last week at a luxury hotel in Geneva, after reports of an altercation and shouting in their suite.

The Swiss newspaper Tribune de Genève reported that two of Gaddafi's domestic servants had claimed he and his wife repeatedly beat them at the hotel with a belt and a hanger. It said a Tunisian woman had been hospitalised.

The angry reaction from Tripoli reached a peak yesterday with the announcement that Libya had halted all its oil deliveries to Switzerland and barred Swiss ships from its ports in protest at the arrest. Libya supplies more than half of Switzerland's crude imports, which totalled 2.5 million tons in 2007.

Tripoli had already recalled some of its diplomats from Switzerland, suspended the issuing of visas for Swiss citizens, reduced the number of flights to Switzerland and detained two Swiss nationals on various charges, according to the Swiss foreign ministry. Switzerland, in turn, has warned its citizens not to travel to Libya.

Libya is now threatening to withdraw about £3 billion in funds held in Swiss banks.

In Tripoli yesterday, the Libyan government organised a demonstration by employees of the Libyan shipping company in front of the Swiss embassy. Some 500 people chanted slogans and distributed flyers calling for an official apology.

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That sounds like a first class tantrum by someone who believes that he and his family are above the law.