Iraqi community in Sweden protests desecration of Quran

By Atila Altuntas

STOCKHOLM (AA) - The Iraqi community in Sweden held a demonstration in the capital Stockholm on Sunday calling on authorities to ban the desecration of the Quran.

Gathering outside the Iraqi Embassy, protesters chanted slogans against the burning of the Muslim holy book and Iraqi flag.

The group recited versus from the Quran and performed prayer and called on Swedish and Danish authorities to ban the burning of the Quran.

Speaking at the demonstration, Ammar Mohammad Ali Omran, head of the Iraqi Community Center in Sweden, said these provocations should not be allowed and need to be seen as "hate crimes."

On Friday, members of the Islamophobic and far-right nationalist group "Danske Patrioter” (Danish Patriots) burned a copy of the Quran in front of Iraq's Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Earlier in the week, Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old Iraqi refugee living in Sweden, stomped on and kicked the Quran, just weeks after setting fire to pages of the holy book outside a Stockholm mosque.

This sparked condemnation worldwide, while protesters in the Iraqi capital Baghdad stormed the Swedish Embassy following the Quran burning in Stockholm.

In January this year, Rasmus Paludan, a far-right Danish leader, burned a copy of the Quran in front of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm. The incident sparked outrage and condemnation across the Islamic world.