Advertisement

US terror experts 'wanted entry to Swatch plants'

Malcolm Curtis
Malcolm Curtis - [email protected]
US terror experts 'wanted entry to Swatch plants'
Nick Hayek. Photo: AFP/File

Swatch group faced pressure from the United States after refusing to open its factories to inspection by American terrorism experts, the head of the world’s largest watch company says.

Advertisement

Nick Hayek, in an interview with weekly German-language newspaper Schweiz am Sonntag, revealed that Biel-based Swatch had been subjected to requests by the US experts.

“They wanted without doubt to verify if it was possible to conceal explosives, poison or anything in the watches,” Hayek told the newspaper.

“It was an issue of terrorist danger,” the Swatch president and CEO said.

But he said since the company had nothing to discuss, it flatly rejected the request, Hayek said.

The Americans subsequently affirmed that “we were going to have difficulties with importing (watches to the US),” he is quoted as saying.

Nothing subsequently emerged, however, almost certainly because the Swatch Group employs thousands of people in the US, Hayek said.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also