By Ali Shuaib and Salah Sarrar
TRIPOLI, June 13 (Reuters) - An aircraft carrying Swiss businessman Max Goeldi took off from Libya on Sunday, his lawyer said, drawing a line under a row that left him stranded in Libya for nearly two years and poisoned diplomatic relations.
The conflict began two years ago when Swiss police briefly arrested Hannibal Gaddafi, a son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and it later escalated to draw in the United States, the European Union and international energy firms.
Goeldi was given clearance to return home after Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey arrived in the Libyan capital and signed a deal both sides said was aimed at ending their diplomatic dispute.
'My client has left Libya,' Goeldi's lawyer Salah Zahaf told Reuters. He did not say what route Goeldi would be taking back to Switzerland.
Goeldi had been serving a four-month prison sentence for violating immigration rules until he was released last week, clearing the way for talks on his return home.
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, whose country holds the European Union's presidency, also took part in the Swiss-Libyan talks on Sunday -- a sign of the importance the EU attaches to its business ties with oil exporter Libya.
The price for Goeldi's return home appeared to be a Swiss apology for the publication of a leaked police photo of Hannibal Gaddafi taken while he was under arrest. Libya says the leak was an invasion of his privacy and damaged his reputation.
The Swiss foreign minister said her country acknowledged the publication was unlawful, apologised, and promised to pay Hannibal Gaddafi compensation if a criminal investigation fails to find who was responsible for the leak.
Swiss French-langugage television said it had unconfirmed reports that the Geneva authorities were paying 1.5 million euros ($1.8 million) in compensation to Hannibal Gaddafi.
(Addtional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Louise Ireland)
((For a timeline on the dispute between Switzerland and Libya, click on)) ($1=.8307 Euro) Keywords: LIBYA SWISS/AGREEMENT (maghreb.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com; +213 21727020) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
TRIPOLI, June 13 (Reuters) - An aircraft carrying Swiss businessman Max Goeldi took off from Libya on Sunday, his lawyer said, drawing a line under a row that left him stranded in Libya for nearly two years and poisoned diplomatic relations.
The conflict began two years ago when Swiss police briefly arrested Hannibal Gaddafi, a son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and it later escalated to draw in the United States, the European Union and international energy firms.
Goeldi was given clearance to return home after Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey arrived in the Libyan capital and signed a deal both sides said was aimed at ending their diplomatic dispute.
'My client has left Libya,' Goeldi's lawyer Salah Zahaf told Reuters. He did not say what route Goeldi would be taking back to Switzerland.
Goeldi had been serving a four-month prison sentence for violating immigration rules until he was released last week, clearing the way for talks on his return home.
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, whose country holds the European Union's presidency, also took part in the Swiss-Libyan talks on Sunday -- a sign of the importance the EU attaches to its business ties with oil exporter Libya.
The price for Goeldi's return home appeared to be a Swiss apology for the publication of a leaked police photo of Hannibal Gaddafi taken while he was under arrest. Libya says the leak was an invasion of his privacy and damaged his reputation.
The Swiss foreign minister said her country acknowledged the publication was unlawful, apologised, and promised to pay Hannibal Gaddafi compensation if a criminal investigation fails to find who was responsible for the leak.
Swiss French-langugage television said it had unconfirmed reports that the Geneva authorities were paying 1.5 million euros ($1.8 million) in compensation to Hannibal Gaddafi.
(Addtional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Louise Ireland)
((For a timeline on the dispute between Switzerland and Libya, click on)) ($1=.8307 Euro) Keywords: LIBYA SWISS/AGREEMENT (maghreb.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com; +213 21727020) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.