Swiss caution on Libya travel due Gaddafi row

* Swiss respond to Libyan refusal to free Swiss citizens

* Row started with arrest of Gaddafi's son in 2008

ZURICH, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Switzerland advised its citizens on Monday not to travel to Libya after the North African country failed to free two Swiss businessmen held there since last year.

The Swiss foreign ministry said in a travel advisory published on its website that political tension which started after the arrest of the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Geneva last year was continuing.

"The Libyan authorities are reacting with measures against Swiss persons and firms in Libya, for example the arrest of Swiss citizens and the obstruction of business," it said.

The ministry advised against all travel to Libya, adding that the risk of kidnapping was very high due to armed gangs and Islamist militants who operated in large parts of the Sahara.

The Swiss say Gaddafi promised to free the businessmen after meeting Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York last month. [ID:nLO120274]

The two men are Max Goeldi, head of the Tripoli unit of the Swiss-Swedish electrical engineering conglomerate ABB (ABBN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research), and a construction firm employee identified as Rachid Hamdani in Swiss media.