The pre-trial detention of two Swiss engineers suspected of helping Libya build a nuclear bomb did not violate their human rights laws, a court ruled on Tuesday.

 

"/> The pre-trial detention of two Swiss engineers suspected of helping Libya build a nuclear bomb did not violate their human rights laws, a court ruled on Tuesday.

 

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MIDDLE EAST

Libya bomb suspects lose detention appeal

The pre-trial detention of two Swiss engineers suspected of helping Libya build a nuclear bomb did not violate their human rights laws, a court ruled on Tuesday.

 

Published: 26 April 2011 17:11 CEST

Urs Tinner and his brother Marco spent three-and-a-half years in custody following their detention in 2005 on suspicion of having supplied war material to Libya, including detailed plans for building a nuclear bomb.

Several pleas for release were rejected “in the interest of the proper conduct of the inquiry” and because of the risk of the brothers absconding.They were released in September 2008 and January 2009 respectively.

In their application lodged with the European Court of Human Rights in November 2008, the two men complained about the reasons for, and the duration of their pre-trial detention.

In its judgement issued on Tuesday the Court said that Swiss judicial authorities “had not failed to give the matter due consideration” and that their decisions in the matter had been “convincing and detailed.”

The Court also noted that the case was “extremely complex”, with the legal authorities of 16 different countries involved and concerned very serious offences.

The men were arrested in Germany in October 2004 and extradited to Switzerland in May the following year for their suspected involvement in the development of nuclear arsenal in Libya through an underground Pakistani network.

They were alleged to have had contact with Addul Qadeer Khan, the “father” of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb.

Libya announced it was to renounce the development and possession of weapons of mass destruction in 2004.

IMMIGRATION

Libya conference to be held in Sicily in November: Italy

A Libya conference will be held in Sicily in November, Italy's foreign minister said Tuesday, with talks focusing on an "inclusive approach" to stabilising the war-torn north African country while not fixating on a date for elections.

Published: 3 October 2018 10:00 CEST
Libya conference to be held in Sicily in November: Italy
The coastline of the Sicilian island of Lampedusa. Photo: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP

The peace conference in Palermo on November 12 and 13 will aim to “identify the stages of a stabilisation process”, Italian Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi told the Senate.

The meeting would drive towards “a common solution, even if there are differences of opinion between the parties involved”, he said.

Four key leaders from Libya agreed at a conference in Paris in May to hold landmark polls on December 10 as part of a French-led plan to stabilise the crisis-hit country despite ongoing violence and deep divisions.

France, however, has faced opposition to the election timetable from the United States along with other European Union countries, notably Italy.

Milanesi said he had received “confirmation of interest” in the conference from Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar as well as support from the US, and was planning on discussing the dossier with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Monday.

“No deadlines will be imposed on the Libyans, nor tasks dictated,” Milanesi said.

Italy, a key supporter of the UN-backed government of Fayez al-Sarraj in Tripoli, said in September it wants to “maintain an active dialogue” with all well-intentioned actors in Libya.

The Libyan capital has been at the centre of a battle for influence between armed groups since dictator Moamer Kadhafi was driven from power and killed in a 2011 NATO-backed uprising.

Sarraj's Government of National Accord has been unable to form a functioning army or regular security forces and has been forced to rely on militias to keep Tripoli safe.

Militias formed the backbone of the uprising that toppled Kadhafi.

Since then rival administrations, including one allied with Haftar and based in the remote east, and the militias have competed for authority and oil wealth in the North African country.

Accused by his opponents of wanting to establish a new military dictatorship, Haftar refuses to recognise the authority of Sarraj's Tripoli-based GNA.

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