Gadhafi: Swiss minaret ban plays into al-Qaida's hands
Swiss media reported the country's liberals are considering a new referendum to overturn the ban.
By Reuters Tags: Israel newsLibya leader Muamar Gadhafi on Sunday said Switzerland's vote to ban the building of new minarets had done a great favor to al-Qaida militants, who would use it to attract recruits in a holy war against Europe, news agency SDA reported.
"The activists are now saying: 'We told you that they are our enemies...join al-Qaida and declare jihad on Europe,'" Gadhafi was quoted as saying.
Politicians from the SVP, Switzerland's biggest party, and the conservative Federal Democratic Union gathered enough signatures to force the referendum on the initiative which opposed the "Islamization of Switzerland."
Swiss liberals are considering a new referendum to overturn the ban, Sunday papers reported.
Club Helvetique, a group of over 20 Swiss intellectuals, will draw up an action plan to overturn the ban, which has drawn widespread criticism abroad and prompted hundreds of people to take to the streets this weekend in Zurich, Basel and Bern.
"A new initiative is the most democratic way of achieving this," constitutional lawyer Joerg Mueller told Sonntag.
Voters adopted the ban in a referendum a week ago, defying the government and parliament which had warned the right-wing initiative violated the Swiss constitution, freedom of religion and a cherished tradition of tolerance.
Two complaints questioning the legality of ban had already been handed to Switzerland's Federal Court, Sonntag said.
Its campaign poster showed the Swiss flag covered in missile-like minarets and the portrait of a woman covered with a black chador and veil associated with strict Islam.
"The Club Helvetique is an association of bad losers," Sonntag reported SVP Vice-President Christoph Blocher as saying.
The United Nations last week denounced Switzerland's constitutional ban on building minarets as "deeply divisive," "clearly discriminatory" and at odds with the country's obligations under international law.
Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey said the Iranian government had summoned the Swiss ambassador to explain the situation.
"I don't know of any evidence of terrorist threats so far," she said. "We are doing everything to prevent the situation from escalating."
Switzerland, a country of 7.7 million, is home to more than 300,000 Muslims, mainly from Bosnia, Kosovo and Turkey, but has just four minarets.
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Why bother with this issue, non of the Arab countries allows Churches or temples to be built in their countries. Wake up Europe...give an inch and Muslim demand much more ?
What is status of the many synagogues where Jews used to warship for 2000 years before they were all ethnically cleansed (and their real estate confiscated)?
Is it really necessary that you kill people because you can't put up minarets? As has been written the Swiss passed laws against kosher slaughtering a century ago. I am unaware of anyone ever saying this played into the hands of a Jewish group who would commit terror acts to kill Europeans.
Enough with the intimidation! "Do not do this or Al-Qaeda will attack you, do not do that because it can offend the muslims and you will have riots, terrorism, etc." Enough! European policies are not dictated by Al-Qaeda but by the European people. Learn to live with that. Will Al-Qaeda attack Europe? Really? So this is a good reason to keep on sending troops to Afghanistan.
"The activists are now saying: 'We told you that they are our enemies...join al-Qaida and declare jihad on Europe,'" Gadhafi was quoted as saying. Ghaddafi is right. Those Islamisists who want to take over the world (which by the way is a minuscule percentage of the world Muslim population would no doubt use the Swiss minaret ban proposal as a key propaganda tool.