Swiss to vote on new minarets ban
Swiss voters are deciding in a referendum whether to accept a ban on the construction of minarets, which right-wing parties regard as symbols of militant Islam.
The move, led by the Swiss People's Party, which has campaigned in previous years against immigrants, has stirred fears of boycotts and violent reactions from Muslim countries.
Polls indicate growing support for the proposal to ban the distinctive spires attached to mosques, but doubt remains about whether it will pass.
The seven-member Cabinet which heads the Swiss government has spoken out strongly against the initiative.
Muslims have been keeping a low profile so far. The Geneva Mosque was vandalised on Thursday when a pot of pink paint was thrown at the entrance.
Business leaders say a ban on minarets would be disastrous for the Swiss economy because it could offend wealthy Muslims who bank in Switzerland, buy the country's luxury goods and visit its resorts.
The vote taps into the anxieties about Muslims which have been rippling through Europe in recent years, ranging from French fears of women in body veils to Dutch alarm over the murder by a Muslim fanatic of a filmmaker who made a documentary which criticised Islam.
Local officials and human rights campaigners have objected to the campaign posters, which show minarets rising like missiles from the Swiss flag next to a fully veiled woman.
Minarets are typically built next to mosques for religious leaders to call the faithful to prayer, but they are not used for that in Switzerland. The four minarets already attached to mosques in the country will remain even if the referendum passes.
Muslims make up about 6% of Switzerland's 7.5 million population, many of them refugees from the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s. Fewer than 13% practice their religion, the government says.
