Staff Writer
The burning of the Quran by an Iraqi resident in Sweden was denounced on Thursday by Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and other Middle Eastern countries, who also warned that such actions “inflame” the sentiments of Muslims worldwide.
Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old man who emigrated to Sweden a number of years ago, set fire to numerous pages of the Quran in front of Stockholm’s largest mosque on Wednesday while being heavily guarded by police.
In accordance with free speech rights, police in the Swedish capital had given him a permission for the demonstration; nonetheless, they later announced that they had started an inquiry against the man for “agitation.”
The event happened as the annual hajj pilgrimage to Makkah in Saudi Arabia was getting near and Muslims around the world were celebrating Eid al-Adha.
Iraq denounced the Swedish government’s choice to permit a “extremist” to burn the Quran.
The foreign ministry in Baghdad stated that these events “inflame the feelings of Muslims around the world and represent a dangerous provocation for them.”
Moqtada Sadr, a powerful Shiite cleric in Iraq, organized a protest outside the Swedish embassy in Baghdad to demand the ambassador’s resignation on the grounds that his country is “hostile to Islam.”
Iran joined in the criticism, calling the Quran burning “provocative, ill-considered, and unacceptable”.
According to Nasser Kanani, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, “the government and people of the Islamic Republic of Iran… do not tolerate such an insult and strongly condemn it.”
In this context, “the Swedish government is expected to seriously consider the principle of responsibility and accountability, while preventing the repetition of insulting the holy sanctities,” he continued.
The haj, which finished on Wednesday, attracted some 1.8 million Muslim pilgrims, and Saudi Arabia both condemned the Quran’s burning.
The Saudi foreign ministry stated that “any justification cannot be accepted for these hateful and repeated acts.”
Free will as a ruse
The most populous nation in the Arab world, Egypt, described the Quran burning as a “disgraceful act provoking the feelings of Muslims” as they celebrated Eid.
It was described as a “assault on the core of our Islamic faith” by the Arab League in Cairo.
Morocco summoned Sweden’s charge d’affaires in Rabat and recalled its ambassador, it said. “Faced with these repeated provocations, committed under the complacent gaze of the Swedish government,” it added.
The “disgraceful act” committed by an extremist with the “permission and consent of the Swedish government” on one of the holiest days for Muslims was denounced by the Syrian government.
“Effective measures to prevent a recurrence” were demanded by the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
The Palestinian foreign ministry denounced what it called a “flagrant attack on human rights, values of tolerance, acceptance of others, democracy, and peaceful coexistence among followers of all religions”.
The Taliban government in Afghanistan reacted fiercely as well, calling the Quran burning an act of “utter contempt towards this noble religion.”
Right-wing extremists from Sweden and Denmark burnt a copy of the Quran in Stockholm in January, which also outraged Muslims around the world.
