The Swedish government confirmed on Sunday its condemnation of the burning of an Iraqi man residing in Sweden, a copy of the Qur'an in front of the main Stockholm mosque, considering what he did as an act "hostile to Islam", in a position that came shortly after the Organization of Islamic Cooperation called on its members to take measures to prevent the recurrence of similar acts.
On the one hand, the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement: "The Swedish government fully understands that anti-Islamic actions committed by individuals during demonstrations in Sweden can be offensive to Muslims. We strongly condemn these actions, which in no way reflect the views of the Swedish government," noting at the same time, freedom of expression is a constitutionally protected right in Sweden.
On the other hand, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation called on Sunday to take collective measures to prevent incidents of desecration of the Qur’an, days after a copy of the Qur’an was burned in front of a Stockholm mosque.
The organization, which includes 57 member states, held a meeting at its headquarters in Jeddah to respond to Wednesday's incident when the 37-year-old Iraqi Silwan Momica, who lives in Sweden, burned pages from the Qur'an.
The incident coincided with the start of the Eid al-Adha holiday and the end of the annual Hajj rituals in Saudi Arabia, which sparked outrage in the Islamic world.
The organization urged member states to "take a unified position and collective measures, to prevent the recurrence of incidents of desecration of copies of the Holy Qur'an and insult to our noble Prophet."
The Secretary-General of the organization, Hussein Ibrahim Taha, stressed the need to send a clear message, that these actions "are not just ordinary Islamophobia incidents."
He stressed "the need to send a constant reminder to the international community regarding the urgent application of international law, which clearly prohibits any advocacy of religious hatred."
The Secretary-General described what Momica did as a "despicable act," noting that the meeting came to discuss the appropriate response to what happened. The meeting of the Executive Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation was held at the invitation of Saudi Arabia, chair of the current session of the Islamic Summit and chair of the Executive Committee of the Organization.
Countries including Iraq, Kuwait, the UAE and Morocco summoned their ambassadors to Sweden to protest the burning of the Koran. Swedish police had given Momica permission to stage his protest, in line with protections for freedom of expression, but authorities later said they had opened an investigation for "incitement".
Source: National Iraqi News Agency