Saudi Arabia has summoned Sweden’s ambassador to denounce the burning of the Muslim holy ebook, the Quran, exterior a Stockholm mosque that sparked a diplomatic backlash throughout the Muslim world, state media reported early Monday.
The kingdom – house to the holiest websites in Islam, in Mecca and Medina – had already condemned Wednesday’s incident during which an Iraqi citizen residing in Sweden, Salwan Momika, 37, desecrated the Muslim holy ebook and set a number of pages alight.
The overseas ministry summoned the ambassador Sunday to induce Sweden “to stop all actions that directly contradict international efforts seeking to spread the values of tolerance, moderation and rejection of extremism, and undermine the necessary mutual respect for relations between peoples and states”, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
The burning coincided with the beginning of the Eid al-Adha vacation and the tip of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, triggering widespread anger.
Countries together with Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Morocco have additionally summoned Swedish ambassadors in protest.
Iran stated Sunday it was holding off on sending its new ambassador to Sweden due to the incident.
At a unprecedented assembly on Sunday at its Jeddah headquarters, the Saudi-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) referred to as for collective measures to keep away from future Quran burnings.
Swedish police had granted Momika a allow consistent with free speech protections, however authorities later stated that they had opened an investigation over “agitation against an ethnic group,” noting that Momika had burnt pages from the Islamic holy ebook very near the mosque.
Sweden’s authorities condemned Momika’s actions Sunday, calling them “Islamophobic.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com
