After the burning of pages from the Koran in front of a mosque in Stockholm on Wednesday, which was officially allowed by Sweden, has drawn international criticism. Morocco has condemned the action and recalled its ambassador to Sweden. The United States and Turkey also criticized the burning.
“This renewed abusive and irresponsible act despises the feelings of more than a billion Muslims during this holy pilgrimage to Mecca and the blessed festival of Eid Al-Adha,” Morocco’s foreign ministry said Thursday evening. In view of the “repeated provocations” committed under the eyes of the Swedish government, the Swedish chargé d’affaires was summoned in Rabat on Wednesday.
Protest action approved by Swedish authorities
On Wednesday, the first day of the Muslim festival of sacrifice, Eid al-Adha, a man kicked the Koran several times in front of about 100 spectators and journalists outside the Grand Mosque in Stockholm while waving the Swedish flag. He then stuck strips of ham, which Muslims consider unclean, into the book and burned a few pages out of it.
Salwan Momika, 37, who fled to Sweden, had previously received approval from Swedish authorities for his protest action after other similar actions were recently banned. However, Swedish courts then ruled that the police had no right to refuse permission to burn the Koran.
Türkiye criticizes NATO candidate Sweden
Turkey immediately condemned the action as “despicable” and “unacceptable”. The incident could cloud Sweden’s prospects of joining NATO, which Turkey has hitherto blocked. Sweden and Finland had jointly applied for NATO membership in May 2022, even before Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine emerged. At the beginning of April, Finland became the 31st member of the Western Defense Alliance. Sweden, on the other hand, still lacks the agreement of Türkiye and Hungary.
US State Department: Burning ‘disrespectful and offensive’
The US State Department also criticized the burning of the Koran. “We have always said that burning religious texts is disrespectful and offensive,” said deputy press secretary Vedant Patel. In any case, Sweden should join NATO “as soon as possible”.
Similar protest already in January
In January, right-wing extremist protesters in Stockholm burned a Quran in front of the Turkish embassy, sparking angry reactions in the Islamic world. At that time, the burning of the Koran led to a hardening of Turkish opposition to Sweden’s accession to NATO.
Source: Krone
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