International   

Israel, Switzerland face-off

DUBAI: Israel has asked its Ambassador in Switzerland to return home for consultations after Swiss President Hans-Rudolph Merz held talks with his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who visited Geneva to participate in an international conference against racism.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Yossi Levy acknowledged that the decision had been taken in protest against Switzerland’s approach towards “a Holocaust denier who has spoken more than once about the need to wipe Israel off the map.”

On its part, the Swiss Foreign Ministry, in a statement, said the two leaders had met to discuss diplomatic issues, including an eight-year jail sentence for a U.S.-Iranian journalist convicted in Iran for espionage. The meeting focused mainly on “questions related to collaboration in the energy and economic sectors”, the statement added.

Israel has also taken strong exception to Mr. Ahmadinejad’s address at the conference on Monday where he accused the Israeli state of racism. The Iranian President said a “totally racist government in occupied Palestine” had been established in 1948, calling it “the most cruel and racist regime.”

Mr. Ahmadinejad’s observations on Monday triggered a virtual West-versus-the-rest split at the conference after European delegates staged a walkout, while most of those who stayed behind cheered the Iranian President.

Mr. Ahmadinejad’s presence in Geneva has also generated a war of words between the Iranians and Israelis.

Using exceptionally strong language, Israel’s President Shimon Peres said: “I feel disgraced that a racist conference is opening in Geneva on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, with Ahmadinejad as guest of honour.”

Israel’s military chief, Gaby Ashkenazi. said soon after Mr. Ahamdinejad’s address that the Israeli Army was “capable of striking the farthest enemy.”

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

First vote for post-apartheid generation
Israel, Switzerland face-off
Sharia for Swat challenged
Swat Taliban invites Osama
Patel made a scapegoat, says friend
Fleet review to promote understanding: China
India-U.S.-Japan naval exercises planned

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu