Jihad Condemned

The U.N. and E.U. have publicly condemned Libyan President Gaddafi’s call for jihad against Switzerland which has banned the construction of minarets inside its borders. “Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the UN director-general in Geneva, said the call by Muammar Gaddafi on Friday was ‘inadmissible’. ‘I believe that such declarations on the part of the head of state are inadmissible in international relations,’ the AFP news agency quoted him as saying. ‘I’m not even talking about actions,’ he said. Meanwhile in Brussels, a spokesman for the European Union’s foreign affairs chief described Gaddafi’s call for jihad as ‘unfortunate’. ‘If these reports are correct … [they] come at an unfortunate moment when the European Union is working closely with Switzerland trying to reach a diplomatic solution’ to a dispute between the two countries, Lutz Guellner, spokesman for Catherine Ashton, said. France also condemned the comments, saying ‘such statements are unacceptable’. ‘The differences between Libya and Switzerland should be resolved by negotiation and we support the European Union presidency’s efforts in this direction,’ Bernard Valero, a French foreign ministry spokesman, said.

Gaddafi made the remarks at a ceremony to mark the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad in Libya’s Benghazi square on Friday.”