Dutch Helicopter Crew: What Now?

While the 2 people that the Dutch Lynx were supposed to rescue were handed to the Dutch embassy by the Libyan authorities (and are now back in Europe), the 3 crew members have not.

A question often asked, even by so called 'experts', is why there were no marines on board the helicopter. While HNLMS Tromp has marines on board, most likely special forces from the Unit Interventie Mariniers, the Lynx is a very small helicopter. You just can't get that many people in a Lynx.

So how soon will the crewmembers be released?
Since the Netherlands is not at war with Libya, international law forbids this type of operations without prior approval of the 'host' country.
The Swiss and Bulgarians have some experience with the time it takes to get their citizens back from Libya. So it might be a while before these 3 are back in the Netherlands.

However, it is a good sign Libyan state television didn't show the captured crew until the Dutch MoD announced the capture themselves. That was 4 days after it happened.
The MoD's hand was forced by a major Dutch newspaper, that made it front page news on Thursday.

But now the cat is out of the bag the crew are perfect propaganda material for Khadafi towards his countrymen to show them (western) foreigners are involved. And they can be used as leverage, both towards the Netherlands as well as the EU.

Khadafi might try to pressure the Netherlands to get the International Criminal Court, which has its seat in The Hague, to drop their investigation into him and his clan. Since the Dutch don't control the ICC, chances of this happening are slim. The Dutch should try to convince him of this and instead try to get him to understand that a swift release will benefit him if it would ever come to a case at the Court.

He can also use them to get the Netherlands and the EU to lessen its sanctions.

What is lucky, at this moment, is that the Dutch know the Libyans pretty well since they had to work with them after the plane crash in Tripoli this past May.

Also, a couple of Dutch soldiers aren't as 'valuable' as Americans, French or British soldiers.

The current Dutch ambassador in Tripoli does have some experience in negotiating with dictators, since he was involved in the release of Dutch people held by Saddam Hussein prior to the first Gulf War. But those weren't soldiers

A military rescue operation is a last resort. It would require intelligence and the failure of this mission suggests that the intelligence the Dutch have is not very good. And the crewmembers are most likely held at 3 different locations, making it all that harder to pull off.

Then what is the quickest way to get these soldiers back in the Netherlands?
The fall of Khadafi, this weekend. How to achieve that is another matter.