KSA lodges protest with Swedish envoy

Pope ‘angry and disgusted’ at desecration of the Muslim holy book

RIYADH:

Saudi Arabia summoned Sweden’s ambassador to denounce a desecration of the Quan outside a Stockholm mosque that sparked a diplomatic backlash across the world, state media reported on Monday.

The kingdom had already condemned Wednesday’s incident that coincided with the start of the Eidul Azha holidays and the end of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, triggering widespread anger.

The Saudi foreign ministry summoned the ambassador on Sunday to urge Sweden “to stop all actions that directly contradict international efforts seeking to spread the values of tolerance, moderation and rejection of extremism, and undermine the necessary mutual respect for relations between peoples and states”, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Besides condemning the incident, countries including Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco also summoned Swedish ambassadors in protest. Iran said on Sunday it was holding off on sending its new ambassador to Sweden.

The Swedish government also publicly denounced the “Islamophobic” act, saying that it “fully understands that the Islamophobic acts … can be offensive to Muslims” and in “no way [it] reflect the views of the Swedish government”.

The Swedish statement was made following a call by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a bloc consisting of 57 members from the Muslim world, which called for global measures to prevent the desecration of the Quran in the future.

Meanwhile, Pope Francis said the desecration of the Muslim holy book made him “angry and disgusted” and that he condemned and rejected permitting the act as a form of freedom of speech.

In an interview in the United Arab Emirates newspaper Al Ittihad, published on Monday, The pope said: “I feel angry and disgusted at these actions. Freedom of speech should never be used as a means to despise others and allowing that is rejected and condemned.”

Pope Francis rejected the permission given by the Stockholm authorities to Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old Iraqi migrant, who committed the Islamophobic act. “Any book considered holy should be respected to respect those who believe in it,” he said.