[Al Arabiya Latest] U.N. Director-General Sergei Ordzhonikidze said Friday that calls for "jihad" by a head of state were unacceptable, after Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi made such a call against Switzerland.Asked by journalists about one state calling for "jihad" against the other, Ordzhonikidze said: "I believe that such declarations on the part of the head of state are inadmissible in international relations. I'm not even talking about actions," he added.
Gaddafi turned up the heat in his country's dispute with Switzerland on Thursday, calling for "jihad" over a recent Swiss ban on the construction of minarets.
A spokesman for the EU's foreign affairs chief also criticized Gaddafi's statement calling them "unfortunate."
"Any Muslim in any part of the world who works with Switzerland is an apostate, is against (the Prophet) Mohammad, God and the Koran," Gaddafi said during a meeting in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi to mark the Prophet's birthday.
"The masses of Muslims must go to all airports in the Islamic world and prevent any Swiss plane landing, to all harbors and prevent any Swiss ships docking, inspect all shops and markets to stop any Swiss goods being sold," Gaddafi said.
| Like the airport-transiting Muslims are going to give up their Rolexes and Toblerone chocolates on Colonel Qadaffy's say-so. |
| "He's a stupid-head, but we diplomatic types are much too polite to say so." |