Worldwide condemnations pour in over Sweden allowing the Koran to burn
On Sunday, several countries around the world continued to condemn Sweden allow a politician to burn a copy of the KoranIslam’s holy book, under police protection in Stockholm.
With permission from the government, Rasmus Paludan, the leader of the Hard Line party, burned a copy of the Koran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm on Saturday.
“Saudi Arabia calls for spreading the values of dialogue, tolerance and coexistence and rejects hatred and extremism,” the Saudi foreign ministry said.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reaffirms the State of Qatar’s total rejection of all forms of hate speech based on religion or race and rejects the involvement of sanctities in political disputes. Furthermore, the Ministry warns that hate campaigns against Islam and the discourse of Islamophobia have witnessed a dangerous escalation through the continued frequent calls for repeated targeting against Muslims worldwide, says Qatar.
The incident “hurts the sentiments of Muslims worldwide and marks serious provocation,” Kuwait’s foreign minister, Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al Jaber Al Sabah, said in statements quoted by the state-run Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).
He called on the international community “to take responsibility by stopping such unacceptable acts and condemning all forms of hatred and extremism and holding the perpetrators accountable.”
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry condemned the burning of the Koran as a “shameful act”.
A ministerial statement warned that this “shameful act provokes the sentiments of hundreds of millions of Muslims worldwide.”
“These extremist practices are incompatible with the values of respect for others, freedom of belief, human rights and fundamental human freedoms,” it added.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said that some European countries, under the false pretext of advocating freedom of expression, “allow extremist and radical elements to spread hatred against Islamic sanctities and values.”
Kanaani said that despite the strong emphasis on human rights in Islam, Europeans continue to “institutionalize anti-Islam sentiment and Islamophobia” in their societies.
Pakistan also condemned the burning of the Holy Quran in Sweden, describing it as a “senseless and provocative Islamophobic act”.
“This senseless and provocative act of Islamophobia hurts the religious sensibilities of over 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said.
Islamabad called on the international community to show a “joint resolve” against Islamophobia, xenophobia, intolerance and incitement to violence based on religion or belief and work together to promote interfaith harmony and peaceful coexistence.
Morocco said it was “surprised” that the authorities had allowed it to happen “in front of the Swedish security forces.”