Swiss voters have supported a referendum proposal to ban the building of minarets¹, official results show.

瑞士官方结果显示，瑞士选民赞成禁止建设清真宣礼塔的公民请求。

There are only four minarets in Switzerland

More than 57% of voters and 22 out of 26 cantons（小行政区） - or provinces - voted in favour of the ban.

The proposal had been put forward by the Swiss People's Party, (SVP), the largest party in parliament, which says minarets（尖塔，宣礼塔） are a sign of Islamisation.

The government opposed the ban, saying it would harm Switzerland's image, particularly in the Muslim world.

But Martin Baltisser, the SVP's general secretary, told the BBC: "This was a vote against minarets as symbols of Islamic power."

The BBC's Imogen Foulkes, in Bern, says the surprise result is very bad news for the Swiss government which fears unrest among the Muslim community.

Our correspondent says voters worried about rising immigration - and with it the rise of Islam - have ignored the government's advice.

In a statement, the government said it accepted the decision.

It said: "The Federal Council (government) respects this decision. Consequently the construction of new minarets in Switzerland is no longer permitted."

Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said: "Concerns [about Islamic fundamentalism] have to be taken seriously.

"However, a ban on the construction of new minarets is not a feasible（可行的，可能的） means of countering extremist tendencies."

She sought to reassure（使……安心） Swiss Muslims, saying the decision was "not a rejection² of the Muslim community, religion or culture".

Switzerland is home to some 400,000 Muslims and has just four minarets.

After Christianity, Islam is the most widespread religion in Switzerland, but it remains³ relatively⁴ hidden.

There are unofficial Muslim prayer rooms, and planning applications for new minarets are almost always refused.

Supporters of a ban claimed that allowing minarets would represent the growth of an ideology⁵（观念学，意识形态） and a legal system - Sharia law - which are incompatible⁶（不相容的，矛盾的） with Swiss democracy.

But others say the referendum（公民投票，请示书） campaign incited⁷（刺激，激励） hatred⁸. On Thursday the Geneva mosque⁹ was vandalised for the third time during the campaign, according to local media.

Amnesty International（国际特赦组织） said the vote violated freedom of religion and would probably be overturned by the Swiss supreme¹⁰ court or the European Court of Human Rights.