Swiss say trying to release dictators' stashed loot

Switzerland is trying to help the new authorities of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya recover 770 million Swiss francs ($850 million) in frozen assets linked to their ousted leaders, but the process could take years, a senior Swiss official said on Wednesday.

Separately, the neutral Alpine country, aligning itself with European Union sanctions on Syria, has blocked 45 million francs tied to President Bashar Al-Assad and his regime, said Valentin Zellweger, head of international law at the foreign ministry.

The Swiss federal cabinet moved swiftly at the start of the Arab spring in January and February, blocking suspicious funds stashed in Swiss coffers to ensure they were not moved or used to fund Muammar Qaddafi's armed attacks on his people, he said.

Seized assets currently include 300 million francs linked to the deposed Libyan leader, 410 million Swiss francs tied to former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, and 60 million francs to former Tunisian president Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, he said.

AFP reported that Switzerland is ready to send financial and legal experts to fast-track procedures, Zellweger added. "It is not surprising that Egypt has not yet made a request for judicial assistance which would comply with Swiss law," he said, pointing to "very complex investigations."

But he said he was "confident that contacts with Egypt will be made that can lead to a restitution of the funds."

Switzerland has already unfrozen 385 million francs and made them available to the new Libyan authorities for the Libyan National Oil Company and Libya Investment Authority, he added.

"The main objective remains quick restitution of funds to Tunisia and Egypt. We are putting all of our efforts into contributing all we can," Zellweger told a news conference.

But 25 years of experience tracing illicit Swiss funds of dictators, including Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines and Sani Abacha of Nigeria, has shown that lawyers can lodge appeals all the way up to the highest Swiss court, he said.

One-third of the $1.5 billion in assets held offshore by Middle Eastern and African rulers is in Switzerland, some of it illegally obtained, according to the Swiss-based research firm MyPrivateBanking.