Sweden has condemned the burning of a Koran in front of Stockholm’s main mosque as an “Islamophobic” act. The Swedish government “fully understands that Islamophobic acts committed by individuals at demonstrations in Sweden can be offensive to Muslims,” the foreign ministry said today.
“We strongly condemn these actions, which in no way reflect the views of the Swedish government,” he said. The Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIZ), based in Saudi Arabia, has already called for measures to prevent the burning of the Koran in the future.
Diplomatic protest from several countries
The 57-member organization held an extraordinary meeting at its headquarters in Jeddah to respond to Wednesday’s incident in which an Iraqi resident of Sweden stepped on a copy of the Koran and set several pages ablaze. Iraq, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Morocco summoned Swedish ambassadors to protest Koran burning.
reference to freedom of expression
Sweden’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that racism and xenophobia “have no place in Sweden or Europe”. At the same time, the ministry pointed out that Sweden has a “constitutionally protected right to freedom of assembly, freedom of expression and demonstration”. The Swedish police had authorized the burning of the Koran with reference to freedom of expression.