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TRIPOLI (Reuters) - A Libyan judge has postponed until later this month the trials of two Swiss businessmen who have been refused permission to leave Libya for nearly 18 months, a lawyer for the two men said on Sunday.

Their cases have prompted criticism at home that the Swiss government has mishandled the affair, and have also unsettled some of the foreign investors who are flocking in growing numbers to Libya's buoyant economy.

Salah Zahaf, a lawyer for the Swiss businessmen, told reporters in Tripoli that one of the two, Rachid Hamdani, would now be tried on January 17 while the trial of the second man, Max Goeldi, would take place on January 16.

The decision to adjourn the trials, on charges of violating business regulations, was made by a judge at court hearings on Saturday and Sunday, the lawyer said.

The two men were barred from leaving Libya in July 2008 after Swiss prosecutors arrested a son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on charges -- later dropped -- of mistreating two domestic employees during a visit to Switzerland.

Libyan officials deny any connection between the arrest in Switzerland and the case of the two businessmen.

In a separate trial last month, Goeldi and Hamdani were convicted of immigration offences and given 16-month prison terms. The two are in the Swiss embassy in Tripoli, where they have been staying since before they were sentenced.

Hamdani works for a construction company and Goeldi is head of Libyan operations for the Swiss-Swedish engineering group ABB.