GENEVA - Libya has freed a brother of one of the servants who triggered the controversial arrest of Libyan leader Moamer Gathafi's son in Switzerland last year, the servant's lawyer said Monday.
The 24-year-old Moroccan, Isam Morchid Mortada, disappeared in the Libyan capital Tripoli in July 2008, shortly after his brother and another domestic worker accused Hannibal Gathafi and his wife of mistreating them.
Mortada was thought to have been detained by Libyan authorities and the lawyer, Francois Membrez, sought the assistance of UN human rights bodies.
The Gathafi couple's brief arrest in the Swiss city of Geneva sparked a bitter and long-running diplomatic feud between Switzerland and Libya.
"Isam Morchid Mortada was freed on August 28, 2009 and his family confirmed the liberation on October 24," Membrez said.
"He was freed thanks to the repeated requests of the United Nations. He has returned to live in Morocco," he added.
Membrez said he had no information on the conditions of detention.
The case was notably taken up as an "urgent" issue by the UN working group on forcible and involuntary disappearances, a human rights oversight body that approaches governments about missing people, according to UN documents.
Police in Geneva had detained the Gathafis for two days, sparking outrage from Libyan authorities and retaliatory sanctions against Switzerland, although the charges were dropped after the servants reportedly received compensation.
In the latest twist to the standoff nearly two weeks ago, Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey accused Libya of "kidnapping" two Swiss businessmen who have been prevented from leaving Tripoli for 15 months.
The two went missing at the end of September after they left the Swiss embassy to undergo a medical check-up at the request of Libyan authorities.
Libya said the two were being held in a "safe location."
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