Posted on 03/19/2008 7:09:28 PM PDT by nuconvert
Swiss FM in Headscarf on Iran Visit Provokes Outcry at Home
March 19, 2008
The Associated Press IHT.com
GENEVA -- Switzerland's foreign minister, already under fire for a natural gas deal with Iran, also is provoking an outcry at home because she wore a headscarf at the meeting with Iran's hardline president when the accord was signed. "Like a submissive woman," the Lausanne daily tabloid Le Matin said Wednesday in a front-page story showing a photo of Micheline Calmy-Rey wearing a white, semitransparent headscarf.
"Calmy-Rey wears the veil of discord," Tribune de Geneve said in its lead headline.
Numerous members of parliament also have voiced anger and incomprehension over Calmy-Rey's choice of attire when she met with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday in Tehran to witness the signing of the multibillion-dollar deal between Swiss energy trading company EGL and the state-owned National Iranian Gas Export Co.
Calmy-Rey, outspoken in support of women's rights, brushed off the criticism upon her return Tuesday. She told reporters she had worn the headscarf to show respect to her host. She said it was not a sign of submission.
"Of course we have to respect customs," said Liliane Maury Pasquier, a Social Democrat like Calmy-Rey. But, she added, "Where is the solidarity with the women who fight against wearing the headscarf?"
Marianne Binder, spokeswoman for the Christian Democrats, was quoted by the Zurich-based mass-circulation daily Blick as saying, "That was an embarrassing prostration in front of Ahmadinejad, who represents the repression of women and denies the Holocaust."
Martine Brunschwig Graf, a Liberal member of parliament, said, "She let herself be manipulated into allowing Iran to push itself forward."
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, right, looks on during a meeting with Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey, left, in Tehran, Iran, Monday March 17, 2008. Switzerland's foreign minister, already under fire for a natural gas deal with Iran, also is provoking an outcry at home because she wore a headscarf at the meeting with Iran's hardline president when the accord was signed.
I can’t even really comment because I don’t have any Swiss heritage.
US launches legal review of Swiss-Iran gas deal
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States on Wednesday warned that it was launching a legal review of a gas deal signed earlier this week between Iran and Switzerland to see whether it violates terms of US sanctions.
“We don’t think that now is the time for people to be investing in Iran, not only in its petroleum or natural gas area, but in any sector of its economy,” said State Department spokesman Tom Casey.
“Certainly, in terms of US domestic law and policy, there are implications or potential implications for any kind of arrangement of this sort in terms of the Iran Sanctions Act,” he said.
“And, obviously, as we get more details about this, we’ll be looking at that particular deal in the light of US law and see whether it crosses any lines there.”
US law regarding sanctions on Iran forbids US businesses from any business dealings with foreign companies that have links to Iranian companies.
Iran and Switzerland on Monday signed a major accord for Iranian gas exports to a Swiss firm, in a rare energy deal between Tehran and the West that drew US charges of sending the “wrong message” and Israeli accusations that it was an “unfriendly act.”
Financial details were not disclosed but the contract between Iran’s state gas firm and Switzerland’s Elektrizitaets-Gesellschaft Laufenburg reportedly envisages Iran supplying 5.5 billion cubic meters (194 trillion cubic feet) of gas annually from 2011.
The deal was made despite US pressure on European countries to cut their business ties with Tehran as a means to pressure Iran to give ground in its refusal to halt its disputed nuclear program.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jL7lw9GhrOYdg7fbRI9VQ83S1o9A
“Not submission” my butt! Ahmadinejad is even trying to show her his package! Utter disrespect for the woman, all of the Islamic world is now laughing at the subserviant woman.
"Calmy-Rey wears the veil of discord," Tribune de Geneve said in its lead headline.
"No better than the embarrassing Nancy Pelosi" quoth FreeRepublic!
And I guess I can't really comment because I'm not incredibly stupid like this Swiss politician...
“...“Not submission” my butt! Ahmadinejad is even trying to show her his package!...”
A small parcel does not a package make.
When you’re dealing with the devil, does it really matter what you wear?
This may sound sexist, but to the Muslim world it is better to send a man. I can understand her concern.
Not to digress from the story, but whenever I see a photo of Ahmadinejad, I say to him: “Take a bath or a shower!”. To me, he looks like someone who definitely needs to take a bath.
“When you’re dealing with the devil, does it really matter what you wear?”
(I like that line)
his henchmen are even worse looking.
Wow, the Swiss don’t care much for appeasement. Maybe their example can put some backbone into our Democrats. After all, they are a nation of peace! (Perhaps they are a nation of peace because every adult male is issued a submachine gun which he is required to maintain by law and the country is riddled with well-hidden pill boxes.)
There’s Nazi money in Swiss banks, Mobutu’s millions are in Swiss vaults. Gold stolen from persecuted Jews powered the Swiss economy. Samoza’s millions, Papa Doc’s loot, money stolen from starving Africans. The list is endless.
Why do you think they would have any qualms in dealing with Iran? They had no problems dealing with Goering and Hitler.
They had no problems dealing with Goering and Hitler.
____________________________________________-
But Switzerland was neutral during WWII
/s
Well, I'm qualified to comment because I eat Swiss cheese.
This Minister, as well as Pelosi, aren't necessarily submissive. They want to be admired, fawned over and most of all to make a hit with Muzzies and their leaders.
It's all about their careers, i.e., gaining power and retaining power through sucking up to people who are in a position of more power than they.
Leni
Jesus, she looks dead already.
This contemptible dhimmi-whore is there to kiss up the the totalitarian regime of the Mullahs. While sensible countries are pressuring Iran to try to end its rogue nuke programs short of war, this dhimmi-whore is there to scoop up deals for Swiss companies. In this case the Swiss don’t have the excuse they used in the ‘40s for sucking up to the hyper-aggressive Nazis next door, that they did not want to be invaded too. In this case the Swiss are merely being the whores of Europe.
This picure is captivating in a pornographic sense. I have seen Western women with headscarf, but never anything like this. This bitch is Islamist and she enjoys this. Eurabia's corridors of power are full of Islamists, Cryptoislamists and plain idiots.
Litmus test: Ask a person where he/she stands on Kosovo issue and you know whether you speak with one.
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