TRIPOLI, March 3 (Reuters) - Libya declared a trade and economic embargo of Switzerland on Wednesday, a week after Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's call for a jihad, or armed struggle, against the European state. The announcement, in a statement reported by the state news agency Jana, marked an escalation of a long-running row between Libya and Switzerland. It also came after Tripoli warned that trade ties with the United States could suffer for caustic comments a U.S. official made about Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Libya's spat with Switzerland began in July 2008 when police in Geneva arrested Gaddafi's son Hannibal on charges -- later dropped -- of mistreating two domestic employees. "The General People's Committee (government) has decided on an economic and trade embargo of the Swiss state involving the public and private sectors," the government said in the statement. "The decision came in answer to the call of the brother Revolution leader (Gaddafi)," it said, adding that Libya would find alternatives for its imports of medicine, medical supplies and equipment from Switzerland. The statement suggested Libya also had scrapped "electricity projects and other" activities by unspecified Swiss firms
And the plot thickens.....
