RIYADH: The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned and denounced an extremist’s burning of a copy of the Qur’an at the Stockholm Central Mosque in Sweden during the Eid Al-Adha holiday on Wednesday.
“These heinous and repeated acts cannot be justified, and they clearly incite hatred, exclusion, and racism, and they directly contradict international efforts to spread the values of tolerance, moderation, and rejection of extremism, and undermine the necessary mutual respect for relations between peoples and states,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Swedish police accused a man with “agitation against an ethnic group” after he desecrated and set fire to pages of the Qur’an outside Stockholm’s biggest mosque.
Salwan Momika, 37, who escaped to Sweden from Iraq several years ago, said he wanted to emphasise the significance of free expression. “This is democracy in action.” It’s in jeopardy if they tell us we can’t do it,” he explained.
Momika’s demonstration was “legal but not appropriate,” according to Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, and it was up to the police to allow it or not.
Source: Arab News