The U.S. State Department apologized on Tuesday for dismissive comments its spokesman made about Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's call for "jihad," meaning an economic boycott against Switzerland.

"I understand that my personal comments were perceived as a personal attack on the president," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley, who made the comments, told reporters. "These comments do not reflect U.S. policy and were not intended to offend. I apologize if they were taken that way."

In apologizing, he appeared to be trying to end a dispute that prompted the head of Libya's state oil company to summon executives from U.S. energy companies Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips , Occidental, Hess and Marathon last week and warn them the dispute could hurt U.S. businesses in Libya.

The fracas centered on a Feb. 25 speech Gaddafi made calling for a "jihad" against Switzerland which U.S. official thought as "armed struggle," but a Libyan official has since said Gaddafi meant an economic boycott.

Asked about the speech, Crowley on Feb. 26 said it reminded him of a previous Gaddafi address which, he said, involved "lots of words and lots of papers flying all over the place, not necessarily a lot of sense."

Libya's ambassador to the United States last week told Reuters that his country wanted good relations with Washington but would not allow its leader to be insulted.

Crowley said he was sorry the dispute had become an irritant in the relationship and said that U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jeff Feltman, the top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, would visit Libya next week for consultations.

Reuters