Brussels, 16/03/2010 (Agence Europe) - The member countries of the Schengen Area may bypass Swiss opposition to the granting of Schengen visas for high-ranking Libyan dignitaries. A new regulation relating to the Schengen visa code, to take effect on 5 April, provides for the possibility of issuing so-called “limited territorial validity” visas for a certain number of Schengen member countries under exceptional circumstances, when the state putting forward the request does so for humanitarian reasons, reasons of national interest or in compliance with international obligations. If such visas are only valid for the territory of the state that issues them, a derogation may extend validity to another country, if approved. These provisions may therefore allow the countries of the Schengen Area to get round the Swiss travel ban on 188 Libyan nationals including the Libyan president, Mouammar Kadhafi, who are banned from entering Swiss territory in the context of the row that has already lasted several weeks between the two countries. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said on Monday that, if the Libyan-Swiss crisis were not resolved by 4 April, he would put a proposal along these lines to all the other Schengen countries during the next meeting of EU foreign ministers on 22 March. (B.C./transl.jl)