The Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the world’s main association of Muslim countries, has called an emergency meeting to discuss the recent burning of Qurans in Sweden and Denmark.
“Provocative and egregious practices against Islamic sanctities are fueled by laws that allow it,” said the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, which called the meeting after the burning of the Koran, the Muslim holy book.
“It is an insult that, twice in a row, has been made to the Holy Qur’an, a gesture of disrespect for the feelings of 2,000 million Muslims around the world,” added the statement cited by the Spanish agency EFE, which reports on the call for the emergency meeting.
The Iraqi Presidency and the Iraqi security forces appealed to the population for calm and recommended not going to the vicinity of the embassies of these Nordic countries in Baghdad, despite the “sinful acts” they say have been committed against Muslims.
“The citizens and political forces of Iraq have the right to express their anger and denounce any attacks or violations of their beliefs, as long as they do not harm our state, the new people or deprive foreign citizens of their diplomatic services,” said the spokesman for the president of Iraq, Abdul Latif Rashid.
The Swedish and Danish embassies in Baghdad were the subject of strong protests after the second desecration of the Koran on Thursday, in which an Iraqi Christian, identified as Salwan Momika, was implicated.
The High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs “strongly” condemned the attack on the Swedish embassy in Baghdad and urged the Iraqi authorities to protect these diplomatic facilities under the Vienna Convention.
“The EU strongly condemns the attack on the Swedish embassy in Iraq and calls for the protection of diplomatic facilities in Baghdad, in line with the Vienna Convention,” Josep Borrell said in a statement released late Thursday afternoon.
Last month, the man, recognized by the media as Momika, burned a copy of the Koran outside a Stockholm mosque during the main Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice), sparking widespread condemnation in the Islamic world.
The right to hold public demonstrations is protected by the Swedish constitution. The blasphemy laws were dropped in the 1970s.
For Muslims, the burning of the Koran represents a desecration of the sacred text of their religion.
These incidents have already sparked protests across the Muslim world, some of them violent. In Afghanistan, the Taliban suspended all activities of Swedish organizations in the country.
A similar protest by a far-right activist was held outside the Turkish embassy in Sweden earlier this year, complicating the Swedish government’s efforts to persuade Turkey to allow Stockholm to join NATO.
Source: TSF
