Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz on Monday released a statement defending his meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Speaking to local media, the Swiss president insisted his country remains neutral and willing to act as a mediator, rejecting the criticism of those nations which boycotted the Durban-2 Conference and his meeting with the Iranian leader, who continues to defy the Western world and the UN-imposed sanctions seeking to halt his rapidly advancing nuclear program.

Israel’s diplomatic representative to Switzerland, Monika Schmutz-Kirgoz, was recalled by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in response, sending a clear message to the Swiss that the meeting with Ahmadinejad is unacceptable and morally reprehensible in light of the threat a nuclear Iran will pose to the Mideast and entire free world.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)