Foreign, domestic anger at Swiss minaret ban

Brussels: Switzerland says the country`s new ban on the building of minarets is not aimed at Muslims but at Islamic fundamentalism.

Swiss Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf says her country supports religious freedoms.

She says Sunday`s referendum vote banning the building of new minarets was not "a referendum against Islam ... but a vote directed against fundamentalist developments."
Widmer-Schlumpf spoke on arrival Monday at a meeting with EU justice ministers. Switzerland is not an EU member but has close and regular contacts with the EU.

Bureau Report