Saudi Arabia summoned the Swedish ambassador to the country on Monday to protest against the burning “by extremists” of a copy of the Koran during an authorized demonstration in Stockholm.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs summons the Swedish ambassador to the Kingdom and informs her of the Kingdom’s categorical rejection of the burning by extremists of a copy of the Holy Quran in front of the central mosque in Stockholm, Sweden, after Eid al -Adha. [a ‘Festa do Sacrifício’, que sucede o período da peregrinação a Meca]”said the Saudi diplomacy, in a statement published on the social network Twitter.
Despite the fact that the burning of the Koran had been condemned by Swedish diplomacy, the Stockholm government recalled that the protest was authorized in compliance with the right to freedom of expression, as had happened on previous occasions.
The Muslim world vehemently protested this incident, compounded by the fact that it coincided with the great Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
On June 28, an Iraqi man burned a copy of the Koran in front of Stockholm’s central mosque, the first such act authorized by Swedish police after the courts overturned an earlier ban. The protest was attended by about two hundred people and a heavy police presence.
The burning of the Muslim holy book in the Swedish capital had strong consequences for the country in the diplomatic field.
Thousands of protesters tried to storm the headquarters of the Swedish mission in Iraq, and on Sunday the Iranian Foreign Ministry decided to postpone the arrival of its new ambassador to the Scandinavian country. At the same time, several countries started a campaign to boycott Swedish companies.
On Sunday, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the largest structure of Muslim countries globally, called on its 57 member countries to respond in a “united and collective” manner.
Last Thursday, the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was one of the first leaders to condemn the protest the previous day in Sweden with the burning of a copy of the Koran, pointing out that it represents another obstacle to the accession of the Nordic country to NATO. .
Swedish diplomacy ruled on the incident on Sunday and condemned the burning of the Koran, describing the situation as an “act of Islamophobia.”
In a statement, the government stressed that “Islamophobic acts committed during protests in Sweden may be offensive to Muslims.”
Thus, it “strongly condemned” what happened, pointing out that the facts in question do not reflect the executive’s opinion, despite insisting that the protest was authorized in compliance with the right to freedom of expression.
Source: TSF
