Stockholm: Outside an Eidgah in Sweden, Muslim countries are protesting against the desecration of the Quran and the government’s permission for it, but the United States has interpreted this move by the government as freedom of expression.
According to international media reports, 37-year-old Iraqi Salwan Momika, who fled to Sweden several years ago, desecrated the holy book on the day of Eid when Muslims were celebrating Eid al-Adha in Sweden.
While Muslim countries have strongly condemned the provocative incident, the United States has supported the Swedish government’s permission to burn the Koran and described it as freedom of expression. US State Department spokesman Matt Miller said, “We believe that the permit granted for this demonstration supports freedom of expression.”
However, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized Sweden for the incident, saying that Ankara will never succumb to the policy of provocation or intimidation. He said that we will teach arrogant Westerners that insulting the sacred values of Muslims is not freedom of expression.
Similarly, Morocco reacted strongly by recalling its ambassador from Sweden indefinitely, and a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry called the desecration “outrageous, illegitimate and unacceptable.”
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also condemned the arson and said that these hateful and repeated shameful actions cannot be accepted under any justification.
Egypt said that the action of the Iraqi man was extremely shameful, especially on the occasion of Eid al-Adha. Similarly, Iraq summoned Sweden’s ambassador and protested strongly, terming the incident racist.
Similarly, other countries condemning the tragic incident include Jordan, Oman, Kuwait, Yemen, Syria, Palestine and Qatar.
(function(d, s, id){
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3&appId=770767426360150”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
(function(d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.7”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));