Apparently this little diplomatic spat started when Switzerland allegedly blacklisted 188 high-ranking Libyans, denying them entry into their country. This ban started after the arrest of Mr Gaddafi's son Hannibal and his wife, Aline Skaf, in Geneva in July 2008. They were accused of assaulting two servants while staying at a luxury hotel in the Swiss city, though these charges were later dropped.
To compound matters in a referendum last November, 57.5% of Swiss voters approved a constitutional ban on the building of minarets, providing a nice little thread for the politics of "offences to Islam" to pull on; in a recent speech, Gaddafi said "Any Muslim in any part of the world who works with Switzerland is an apostate, is against Muhammad, God and the Koran." demonstrating very well how dictators like this abuse religion (particularly Islam) to prop up their own petty and self serving squabbles.
No doubt you've heard the phrase "coals to Newcastle" before but is this a case of cuckoo's to Switzerland?
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