Swiss is always your favorite country ????

The Swiss have approved a ban on the construction of minarets, according to incomplete results of voting on Sunday.

62 PER CENT of voters had backed the initiative. A majority of cantons were also in support of a minaret ban.

The result, if confirmed, comes as a major surprise and a slap in the face of the government. Opinion polls ahead of the vote had predicted the ban would be rejected by 53 per cent of the electorate.

The proposal on banning minaret construction was championed by rightwing and ultra-conservative groups. The government and most POLITICAL PARTIES AS WELL AS CHURCHES AND THE BUSINESS COMMUNITYcame out strongly against it.

To be approved, it needed the backing of a majority of both voters and cantons.

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.

The campaign in the run-up to the vote on Sunday was marked by a provocative poster campaign which was criticised as racist by non-governmental organisations and international bodies.

Minaret controversy in SwitzerlandTIMES ONLINE