The United States has poked fun at Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi's call for jihad against Switzerland, saying it recalled the colonel's anti-Western diatribe at the United Nations last year.
"Lots of words and lots of papers flying all over the place and not necessarily a lot of sense," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said.
Gaddafi berated Western powers in a UN diatribe, accusing the global body of failing to prevent millions of deaths as he demanded trillions of dollars in colonial reparationsThe
No comment from Swiss
The Swiss government has refused to comment on Gaddafi's latest salvo in the simmering diplomatic saga in which Gaddaffi has for holy war.
Gaddafi turned up the heat in his country's dispute with Switzerland due to a recent Swiss ban on the construction of minarets.
"It is against unbelieving and apostate Switzerland that jihad (holy war) ought to be proclaimed by all means," Gaddafi said in a speech in the Mediterranean coastal city of Bengazi to mark the birthday of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed on Friday.
The dispute began with Geneva police's 2008 arrest and brief detainment of his son, Hannibal, and his wife for allegedly beating up their servants.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon, reacting to Libyan Moamer Kadhafi's calls, said through his spokesman Friday that it was "unfortunate" that the row between the two countries has taken such a turn.
"The Secretary General feels that it is unfortunate that this matter has escalated in this way. He strongly believes that differences of opinion should be resolved peacefully through dialogue," spokesman Martin Nesirky told a press briefing.
He recalled that Ban "has consistently called for tolerance and understanding among different religions."
Following the detainment of Gaddafi's son, the row worsened when Libya swiftly stopped two Swiss businessmen, Rashid Hamdani and Max Goeldi, from leaving its territory.
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