Timeline: Events in Libya's row with Switzerland

(Reuters) - Two Swiss businessman left the shelter of their country's embassy in Tripoli on Monday after Libyan police had surrounded the building in a long-running row which has drawn in governments across Europe.

Following is a timeline of events in the diplomatic spat:

July 15, 2008 - About 20 police enter a luxury hotel in the Swiss city of Geneva where a son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is staying. They arrest Hannibal Gaddafi and his pregnant wife on charges of mistreating two domestic employees.

-- The couple deny the charges and leave the country after posting bail. Days later, OPEC member Libya announces that it is halting oil exports to Switzerland and two Swiss businessmen working in Libya, Max Goeldi and Rachid Hamdani, are barred from leaving the North African country.

September 3, 2008 -- Geneva prosecutors drop their case against Hannibal Gaddafi and his wife after the plaintiffs, a Tunisian woman and a Moroccan man, withdraw their formal complaint.

August 20, 2009 -- Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz visits Tripoli and apologizes for Hannibal Gaddafi's brief arrest. After Merz's visit, a Swiss government Falcon aircraft waits several days in Tripoli to fly Goeldi and Hamdani back home. It leaves without them after Libya does not clear them to leave.

November 12 -- The Libyan Foreign Ministry says Goeldi and Hamdani will be tried for visa irregularities and failing to respect rules set out for companies working in Libya. A ministry official said the charges were "totally separate" from the diplomatic row over Hannibal Gaddafi's arrest.

December 1 -- A court in Tripoli finds both Goeldi and Hamdani guilty of visa irregularities and sentences them to 16 months in prison. They stay at the Swiss embassy in Tripoli and do not attend the trial. Lawyers for both men appeal the decision.

December 2 -- A Libyan official says Goeldi and Hamdani will face a new trial on separate charges of violating business rules.

January 31, 2010 -- A Libyan court hearing Hamdani's appeal against his conviction for visa irregularities overturns the earlier decision and finds him not guilty.

February 6 -- A judge finds Goeldi guilty of violating business rules and fines him 1,000 dinars ($800).

February 7 -- A court finds Hamdani not guilty of violating business rules. His lawyer says that unless prosecutors appeal the verdict, Hamdani is free to go home.

February 11 -- Goeldi's 16-month prison sentence for visa violations is reduced on appeal to four months, his lawyer says. He says he is hopeful the Prosecutor General would decide to waive the sentence altogether.

February 14 - A Libyan newspaper reports that the country will take "severe measures" in retaliation to Switzerland denying entry visas to nearly 200 Libyans, including Gaddafi, members of his family and other senior officials.

February 15 - Libya suspends visas for citizens of the Schengen area -- 25 European countries, including some nations such as Switzerland which are not EU members.

February 18 - Libyan and Swiss foreign ministers meet in Spain to seek an end to the spat that is hitting relations with the EU. Spain's Miguel Angel Moratinos says big differences remain between the countries. February 21 - Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa summons EU ambassadors giving them an ultimatum, to hand over the two men, by midday on February 22 or face unspecified consequences.

February 22 - The two Swiss men leave their embassy in Tripoli. Hamdani is driven away by Libyan officials, and his lawyer says he is heading for Tunisia after Libyan authorities gave him clearance to leave the country.

-- Goeldi will be driven to jail to start his four-month jail sentence.