Saudi, US, Iran, others react as man burns Quran in Sweden

A number of nations have condemned the burning of the Quran by one Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee who moved to Sweden a number of years in the past.

The act occurred in entrance of the Stockholm Central Mosque on Thursday the place the Muslims gathered to rejoice the Eid al-Adha vacation.

In line with an Aljazeera report, Mr Momika strutted into view behind rows of cops outdoors the mosque, waving two Swedish flags because the nationwide anthem blasted over a speaker system.

“With white AirPods in his ears and a cigarette hanging nonchalantly from his mouth, he then desecrated the Quran repeatedly on Wednesday by tearing it up and lighting it on hearth,” it reported.

The refugee looking for to ban the Quran in Sweden additionally laid a strip of bacon on the holy e book and started stamping on it along with his foot. One other unidentified man with him spoke to the group by a megaphone.

The Swedish police had initially prohibited the person from burning the Quran however allowed him after a Swedish enchantment courtroom dominated that such a ban was a violation of his rights.

A whole lot of Iraqis protested on the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad following the act in Stockholm. Stories mentioned that some burnt down a rainbow-coloured flag on the embassy whereas others carried the Quran and a portrait of an influential Shia chief Moqtada al-Sadr whereas chanting.

This act has drawn condemnation from a number of nations together with nations within the Center East.

How the world is reacting

Turkey whose assist Sweden must turn out to be a part of NATO condemned the incident saying it’s going to by no means bow all the way down to a coverage of provocation or menace.

“We are going to train the conceited Western folks that it isn’t freedom of expression to insult the sacred values of Muslims,” Aljazeera quoted President Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey as saying.

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Turkish International Minister Hakan Fidan in a tweet described the act as “despicable” including that it’s unacceptable to permit these actions underneath the pretext of freedom of expression.

“To condone such atrocious acts is to be complicit,” he tweeted.

Morocco condemned the act and recalled its ambassador to Sweden for an indefinite interval.

For Iran, it’s “provocative, ill-considered and unacceptable”.

“The federal government and folks of the Islamic Republic of Iran … don’t tolerate such an insult and strongly condemn it,” mentioned overseas ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani, including that “the Swedish authorities is predicted to significantly contemplate the precept of accountability and accountability on this regard whereas stopping the repetition of insulting the holy sanctities.”

“We consider the demonstration created an surroundings of worry that can impression the power of Muslims and members of different non secular minority teams from freely exercising their proper to freedom of faith or perception in Sweden,” Aljazeera quoted US Division of State spokesperson Matt Miller as saying.

“We additionally consider that issuing the allow for this demonstration helps freedom of expression and isn’t an endorsement of the demonstration’s actions,” he added.

Iraq in response to the act summoned the Swedish ambassador to Iraq on Thursday.

It known as the act “racist” and “irresponsible”, including that it condemns “the repeated acts of burning copies of the holy Koran by people with extremist and disturbed minds”.

“They don’t seem to be solely racist but additionally promote violence and hatred,” the Iraqi authorities mentioned in an announcement.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia condemned the act saying “These hateful and repeated acts can’t be accepted with any justification, as they clearly incite hatred, exclusion, and racism, and instantly contradict worldwide efforts looking for to unfold the values of tolerance, moderation, and rejection of extremism, and undermine the mandatory mutual respect for relations between peoples and states.”

Jordan additionally summoned the Swedish ambassador in Amman and knowledgeable her of the nation’s robust protest, the Jordanian Ministry of International Affairs and Expatriates mentioned in an announcement.

It described the act as “racist” and an “incitement” noting that burning the Holy Qur’an is an act of harmful hate, and a manifestation of Islamophobia that incites violence and insulting religions and can’t be thought-about a type of freedom of expression in any respect.