Swiss minister: Minaret ban targets fundamentalism

Switzerland says the country's new ban on the building of minarets is not aimed at Muslims but at Islamic fundamentalism, AP reported.

Swiss Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf says her country supports religious freedoms.

She says Sunday's referendum vote banning the building of new minarets was not "a referendum against Islam ... but a vote directed against fundamentalist developments."

Widmer-Schlumpf spoke on arrival Monday at a meeting with EU justice ministers. Switzerland is not an EU member but has close and regular contacts with the EU.