Arab world slams Quran burning in Sweden

By Ibrahim El-Khazen and Mohamed Ghafri

ISTANBUL (AA) – Many Arab countries have condemned the burning of a copy of Muslim holy book, the Quran, in front of a mosque in the Swedish capital Stockholm on Wednesday.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry slammed the incident late Wednesday, saying "these hateful and repeated acts cannot be accepted with any justification, and they clearly incite hatred, exclusion and racism."

For its part, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry also said "burning the Holy Quran is an act of dangerous hate, and a manifestation of Islamophobia that incites violence and insulting religions, and it cannot be considered a form of freedom of expression at all."

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said "the attack on the Holy Quran by a hateful extremist is an expression of hatred and racism and a flagrant attack on the values of tolerance, acceptance of the other, democracy, and peaceful coexistence among followers of all religions."

Also, the Arab Parliament said in a statement that what happened was "an act of incitement that would inflame the feelings of Muslims around the world," denouncing the continuation of the Swedish authorities in these "provocations."

On Wednesday, a person identified as Salwan Momika burned a copy of the Quran under police protection in front of Stockholm Mosque.

On June 12, a Swedish appeals court upheld a lower court's decision to overturn a ban on Quran burning, ruling that police had no legal grounds to prevent two Quran burning protests earlier this year.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat