Spanish EU presidency fails to resolve Libyan-Swiss visa crisis

The Spanish European Union presidency on Thursday failed in initial attempts to bring Libya and Switzerland to resolve their visa dispute which has spread to other parts of Europe, DPA reported.

Negotiations would, however, continue later in the day, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said after meeting with his Libyan and Swiss counterparts Mousa Kousa and Micheline Calmy-Rey.

Moratinos said there had been "advances" though difficulties remained.

Earlier this week, Spain asked Libya to explain its decision to stop granting short-term visas to citizens of most EU countries, with a Foreign Ministry representative meeting with the second-in-charge of the Libyan embassy in Madrid.

Spain was acting simultaneously with EU foreign policy director Catherine Ashton in an attempt to resolve the visa crisis, government sources said.

The European Commission has described Libya's decision to deny entry to citizens from the EU's Schengen area as "unilateral and disproportionate."

No official explanation was given for Tripoli's actions, but according to press reports it follows Switzerland's decision to ban more than 180 Libyan officials from its territory. Switzerland is not a member of the EU, but it is part of the Schengen area.

The row has seen the authorities in Tripoli deny Schengen-zone passport holders entry into the North African country.

Italy and Malta urged Switzerland on Wednesday to resolve its diplomatic spat with Libya, following a three-way meeting in Rome involving Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, Malta's Tonio Borg and Kousa.

The government in Bern, however, said it was not changing its visa policy.

The Rome talks followed several days during which dozens of Italian and Maltese nationals, many of them business travellers, were turned away at Tripoli airport and put on return flights home.

Schengen, the free movement agreement, includes 25 European countries and extends from Iceland southward to Greece.

The row dates to July 2008 when police in Geneva briefly detained Hannibal Gaddafi, the son of Libya's leader Moammer Gaddafi, along with his wife, on charges of abusing their domestic staff at a hotel.

Tripoli has since been detaining two Swiss citizens for alleged visa violations.