Libya said Thursday it will stop fuel supplies to Switzerland transported by ships operated by the Libyan national maritime transport company, as hundreds of Libyans continued to protest against the July 15 arrest and two-day detention of Hannibal Gadhafi in Geneva.

A Swiss diplomatic delegation was also in Tripoli on Thursday to contain what has turned into a crisis between the two countries. The Swiss Foreign Ministry said the envoys would provide explanations on the arrest of Hannibal, 32, and his heavily pregnant wife, who were accused of assaulting some of their staff members in a Geneva hotel.

The powerful popular committees have demanded from Bern an official apology for the arrest and to immediately "close the case it fabricated" against Hannibal, who claimed after his release on bail on July 17 that he was mistreated during his detention.

Hannibal is the "official adviser" of the national maritime transport company, which owns 10 vessels and handles nearly all oil exports from Libya, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

The company's announcement that it would halt fuel supplies to Switzerland raised oil prices slightly on Thursday.

Libyan company Tamoil owns one of Switzerland's two oil refineries and runs 320 filling stations in the country.

The Libyans have also threatened to withdraw their assets from Swiss banks, to sever diplomatic ties and expel Swiss companies, which the Foreign Ministry in Bern said were measures that Tripoli had already began to implement.

The ministry said on Wednesday that Libya's envoy in Switzerland has been recalled, that the Libyan authorities suspended the issuing of visas to Swiss citizens, air links between the two countries were reduced, Swiss businesses in Libya were ordered to shut down and some of their staff had been arrested.

Fearing further backlash, the Swiss government advised its citizens against traveling to Libya and urged those in the country to register with the embassy.

Swiss officials said the delegation in Tripoli was seeking a quick resolution to the crisis with Libya, but few expected that Bern would meet the Libyan demands for an apology or drop the charges against Hannibal and his wife.

Arab commentators were puzzled by Libya's forceful reaction to Hannibal's arrest, saying that such retaliation was only drawing attention to the record of the "spoiled behavior" of the Libyan leader's son, even if he is innocent of accusations that he assaulted two of his domestic staff at a fancy hotel.

In 2005, Hannibal was indicted by a court in France for hitting his girlfriend after incidents at two luxury hotels; and in 2004, he was stopped by French police for driving down the Champs Elysees at 140 kilometers per hour in his Porsche.

Arab analysts say the Libyan reaction also discards the Libyan leader's traditional claim that he is less of a dictator or less corrupt than other ruling families, where sons of leaders generally dwell in a life of wealth and decadence, and enjoy immunity from legal accountability.

An Arab diplomat privately suggested to the Middle East Times that instead of punishing a country like Switzerland, which he said is known for its independent political decisions and judiciary, Gadhafi should punish his son and let him have his day in a Swiss court to argue his case.

That way, the diplomat added, the Libyan leader would "teach his son a lesson that he's not above the law, that he [the father] is not a corrupt dictator, and avoid an unnecessary diplomatic crisis that is causing him and his regime a great embarrassment."

Some Arab talking heads, who believe that the popular committees, not Gadhafi, are the real rulers of the North African country, say they doubt the Libyan leader was consulted on using oil as a weapon to retaliate against Switzerland on a personal issue regarding his son, while oil has not been used as a pressure tool in more significant political issues.

Dissident voices in the Arab world have for decades called on their regimes to use their oil against Western support for Israel, but these demands have fallen on deaf ears.

Analysts say that for Libya to use oil against a neutral country like Switzerland because Gadhafi's youngest son allegedly broke the law in a personal row is an exaggeration that should be avoided.