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

Several countries have condemned the burning of the Quran by one Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee who moved to Sweden several years ago.

The act happened in front of the Stockholm Central Mosque on Thursday where the Muslims gathered to celebrate the Eid al-Adha holiday.

According to an Aljazeera report, Mr Momika strutted into view behind rows of police officers outside the mosque, waving two Swedish flags as the national 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 fire,” it reported.

The refugee seeking to ban the Quran in Sweden also laid a strip of bacon on the holy book and began stamping on it with his foot. Another unidentified man with him spoke to the crowd through a megaphone.

The Swedish police had initially prohibited the man from burning the Quran but allowed him after a Swedish appeal court ruled that such a ban was a violation of his rights.

Hundreds of Iraqis protested at the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad following the act in Stockholm. Reports said that some burnt down a rainbow-coloured flag at the embassy while others carried the Quran and a portrait of an influential Shia leader Moqtada al-Sadr while chanting.

This act has drawn condemnation from several countries including countries in the Middle East.

How the world is reacting

Turkey whose support Sweden needs to become part of NATO condemned the incident saying it will never bow down to a policy of provocation or threat.

“We will teach the arrogant Western people that it is not freedom of expression to insult the sacred values of Muslims,” Aljazeera quoted President Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey as saying.

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Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in a tweet described the act as “despicable” adding that it is unacceptable to allow these actions under 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 period.

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

“The government and people of the Islamic Republic of Iran … do not tolerate such an insult and strongly condemn it,” said foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani, adding that “the Swedish government is expected to seriously consider the principle of responsibility and accountability in this regard while preventing the repetition of insulting the holy sanctities.”

“We believe the demonstration created an environment of fear that will impact the ability of Muslims and members of other religious minority groups from freely exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief in Sweden,” Aljazeera quoted US Department of State spokesperson Matt Miller as saying.

“We also believe that issuing the permit for this demonstration supports freedom of expression and is not an endorsement of the demonstration’s actions,” he added.

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

It called the act “racist” and “irresponsible”, adding that it condemns “the repeated acts of burning copies of the holy Koran by individuals with extremist and disturbed minds”.

“They are not only racist but also promote violence and hatred,” the Iraqi government said in a statement.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia condemned the act saying “These hateful and repeated acts cannot be accepted with any justification, as they clearly incite hatred, exclusion, and racism, and 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.”

Jordan also summoned the Swedish ambassador in Amman and informed her of the country’s strong protest, the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said in a statement.

It described the act as “racist” and an “incitement” noting that burning the Holy Qur’an is an act of dangerous hate, and a manifestation of Islamophobia that incites violence and insulting religions and cannot be considered a form of freedom of expression at all.